New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

[Cresco750]

A few days ago I installed my new SE106 drive, replacing my MC-1. When I assembled the two halves together I found that the intermediate shift shaft could not be aligned exactly straight ahead on the lower shift shaft, ie the "foot" of the brass intermediate shaft was cocked off slightly in the direction it would rotate to when neutral was selected ( drive locked in forward gear). Changing the intermediate shafts position on the lower splines made it sit more the other way from centre so I put it back.
When I offered the drive up to the transom assembly the "foot" was reluctant to engage with the upper shift shaft "shoe" (which was aligned straight ahead / remote controls selected in forward. After a bit of manipulation the foot engaged but it is still slightly off centre, which makes me think that the shift cable is now under undue load?
I had to readjust the lower shift cable in order to get forward and neutral to lock in gear / ratchet as per Mercruiser instructions.
When i started the engine on the muffs the remote shift would have to be bought slightly back past the neutral detent to get it to disengage from forward gear. I rechecked and adjusted the shift cables which made it shift gears ok, but when I ran it in the water it would on occasion still need to be pulled back past neutral position to get forward to disengage - sometimes it would come out of gear ok, other times it wouldn't.
The shift cable was replaced six months / 30 hours ago. The shift interrupt switch seems to be functioning ok, and the engine doesn't stall when selecting gears.

Any suggestions as to what I should try next?

 

[britisher]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Just a suggestion, but have you contacted SEI Technical Help. As it's a brand new unit, it is covered by their no quibble warranty. I am sure they want you as a happy bunny customer so could advise.

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Yes I have but I'm still waiting on their reply. Unfortunately it's an expensive exercise to ship the unit back overseas for warranty, so I'm hoping it can be resolved with some adjustment, etc?

 

[Don S]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

When I offered the drive up to the transom assembly the "foot" was reluctant to engage with the upper shift shaft "shoe" (which was aligned straight ahead / remote controls selected in forward.

If the shift shaft was straight ahead in the bell housing, does the one in the drive face forward as well when in forward? Did you turn the prop CCW when shifting the foot in the drive to the forward position until the prop stopped?

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Hi Don

No, when the drive is offered up to the bell housing the upper shift shaft shoe had to be manipulated a little to get it to engage with the intermediate shaft foot. This resulted in the upper shaft actually being put under enough pressure for it to rotate enough to line up with the mid-aligned intermediate shaft. I'm not all that apply with this arrangement as to me it is putting undue pressure on the system, and it will make future installation difficult.
I just called SEI and described the situation. Their response was to remove the lower shaft from the gear housing, put it in a vice and twist it in order to get correct alignment
As for the issue of the drive not coming out of gear consistently, they suggested that there may be an intermittent fault with the shift interrupt switch. I will do some more testing of the switch to see if I can pick up a fault.

Cheers

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Did you turn the prop CCW when shifting the foot in the drive to the forward position until the prop stopped?

Yes, and I held it against the dog with a bungee rubber while I did the install and adjustments.

 

[Don S]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

I just called SEI and described the situation. Their response was to remove the lower shaft from the gear housing, put it in a vice and twist it in order to get correct alignment
As for the issue of the drive not coming out of gear consistently, they suggested that there may be an intermittent fault with the shift interrupt switch.

That is a lame suggestion.

Now you see why their products are so much cheaper.

I will do some more testing of the switch to see if I can pick up a fault.

The only way the switch could be at fault is if you energize it and it takes some time to work electrically. Don't see that happening.

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

I agree. I'm wondering whether I might be better off pulling the lower shift shaft from my old MC1 drive and putting in the SEI? I would rather keep my MC1 lower box in tact as a spare as it is ok (it was the upper that was giving me grief).

 

[Don S]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

I agree. I'm wondering whether I might be better off pulling the lower shift shaft from my old MC1 drive and putting in the SEI? I would rather keep my MC1 lower box in tact as a spare as it is ok (it was the upper that was giving me grief).

Give it a try, can't hurt. A lot cheaper than all the shipping. Besides, you have to separate a drive just to change the impeller. It's not that big a deal.

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

I just pulled my drive off to sort out the misalignment of the shift shaft. Before pulling the lower shift shaft out I tried the old intermediate shaft from my MC-1 on the SEI drive and much to my satisfaction I found that the foot now points straight when the gears in locked in forward; a much better option to twisting the shaft straight! I can only assume that there was a small manufacturing error in the SEI intermediate shaft?
I'm yet to reinstall the drive, but I will report on how I go with sorting out the gear disengagement issue next time I have the boat in the water.

Cheers

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Right-o, the drive is now back on the boat, complete with the old intermediate shift shaft out of my MC-1. It slid on much easier this time now that the foot was aligned properly with the upper shoe.
I then proceeded to recheck the cable adjustments as per the manual; lower one set at the six inch adjustment, upper control cable adjusted and its brass barrel turned back four turns, shift cut out switch verified as being centered, etc. After doing all this I found that the drive would engage in forward gear nicely and have a very positive 'clack-clack' in overrun ratchet when the prop is spun by hand out of the water. Neutral is ok, but reverse would not engage at all, just the odd sound of gears catching the dog as the prop was spun. I decided to turn the brass barrel on the control cable back out another two full turns and succeeded to get reverse to engage but it produced a very feeble ratchet sound in comparison to the forward gear. I then adjusted the brass barrel out to a total of eight full turns and got all the gears to lock in, forward still has a very positive ratchet while reverse has a very weak one in comparison.
Am I approaching this the right way? What are these symptoms saying? What else should I be doing? I haven't yet tried the boat in the water, but I want to make sure it is adjusted correctly on the dry first. The lower cable was replaced six months / 30 hours ago, the boat, and therefor the upper cable has done 300 hours over thirty years.

Cheers.

 

[achris]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

... Neutral is ok, but reverse would not engage at all, just the odd sound of gears catching the dog as the prop was spun. I decided to turn the brass barrel on the control cable back out another two full turns and succeeded to get reverse to engage but it produced a very feeble ratchet sound in comparison to the forward gear. I then adjusted the brass barrel out to a total of eight full turns and got all the gears to lock in, forward still has a very positive ratchet while reverse has a very weak one in comparison.
Am I approaching this the right way? What are these symptoms saying? What else should I be doing? I haven't yet tried the boat in the water, but I want to make sure it is adjusted correctly on the dry first. The lower cable was replaced six months / 30 hours ago, the boat, and therefor the upper cable has done 300 hours over thirty years.

Cheers.

Definitely not... You have slop in the system somewhere (probably the control box) and you need to know the right way to adjust that out. Once you have the 6" and 4 turns back you should NOT be touching the shift cables again.....

Read the book and do it right.... Have a look at my video for some guidance and an explanation of the slotted lever... That's where you should be adjusting.... Mercruiser Alpha Shift cable adjustment - YouTube

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Ok, thanks Chris, I'll study it tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Cheers

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Rechecked / remeasured everything today as per your YouTube vid, Chris, and I found the following; lower cable play is 10mm, however the upper cable travel is 3 1/4 inch, ie 1/8" more than what you mention. With both cables adjusted back to the manual specs the reverse gear would not engage, only the slightest of noise of the gear and dog catching as the prop is spun. Then, with the drive cable end moved half way down the adjustable slot I managed to get positive engagement in both gears, however the overrun ratcheting of the reverse gear was nowhere as positive as was with forward gear. I then moved the cable end right to the end of the slot and this didn't seem to make any obvious difference to the ratcheting in either direction. Should I be aiming to get the same amount of ratchet in both gears or does this not matter as long as they both lock in?
I won't get a chance to run it up in the water for a few days yet.

Cheers

 

[achris]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

As long as you get full engagement in forward and at least some engagement in reverse you should be good.

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Picking up from where I left this thread, I've since had the opportunity to try the boat in the water and the drive is still reluctant to come out of forward gear.
To recap: lower shift cable is only about six months / 30hrs old and adjustment has been triple checked, upper cable adjustment has also been checked but found to be approximately 1/8" longer than tolerance. I had to move the reverse gear adjustment stud to the mid position in order to get reverse to engage - moving to right to the end of the slot didnt seem to make any further difference to the ratcheting. Shift interrupt switch verified to kill the engine when manually activated.
Gear engagement from neutral into both forward and reverse is smooth. Neutral can always be selected from reverse without problem, however the drive will only go into neutral from forward gear about 25% of the time. Pulling the control lever back past the neutral detent will get the forward gear to disengage.
When the boat is running on the muffs the drive comes out of gear easily every time, so the issue only seams to rear its head when there is water load on the prop.
Spinning the prop by hand there is a very positive ratchet on the forward gear, but a noticeable weaker ratchet in reverse gear.

I'm not sure where to go from here? Is replacing the upper control cable going to resolve the issue, or is that just as likely to be an expensive gamble? Is it a drive issue? Or other?

Cheers

 

[achris]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Check that the interrupt switch is activating when trying to come out of forward. Because the activating lever moves one way for reverse and the other way for forward it's possible you still have a switch problem. Have you checked how much switch arm movement is required to close the switch? It should be 1/8"....

You need to physically watch the lever as someone else pulls the control lever back...

Chris........

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Thanks Chris, I will check that next time the boats in the water. Regarding checking the 1/8" movement to close the switch, are you referring to the amount of deflection of the activating lever, or the amount the roller end of the lever on the micro switch itself must be pushed in in order for the switch to make contact?

Cheers

 

[Cresco750]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

Ok, today I had the boat out for another run and managed to do some further investigation.
As expected, the drive was still reluctant to come out of forward gear a majority of the time, and neutral from reverse was achieved every time without hassle. I got my assistant to shift through the gears as I watched the shift interrupt switch and I observed that yes, interrupt switch lever did move in opposite directions for forward and reverse, however on occasion it did not move very much at all when selecting neutral from forward; barely enough to move the roller inwards and certainly not enough to activate the micro switch. The drive stayed in gear. Ah-ha! Then, as this occurred I manually flicked the interrupt switch, the ignition momentarily cut out yet the drive still stayed in forward gear. I flicked the cut out switch several times and still it would not disengage. Pulling the main control lever back past the neutral detent would always cause the drive to drop into neutral in this situation.
I haven't yet checked the 1/8" throw of the micro switch, but to me it is looking more like a cable adjustment issue? Am I correct? I'm positive that I've triple checked all cable measurements, and aside from the upper cable length being on the slightly long side it all seems to be in order. What do I do?!

 

[achris]

Re: New SEI 106 outdrive; occasional difficulty coming out of gear.

When you set up the lower shift cable, did you give the cable anchor barrel those 4 turns out?

Chris.....