Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

[Tracker Dave]

Hi Everybody. New to the forum, but been looking around awhile, great place! I recently aquired a 2006 Nissan 70 HP TLDI outboard with about 500 hours. It runs great, and seems to have very few problems with one exception. When shifting into reverse, it doesn't engage reverse until just before the throttle starts to open and it seems to grind a little most times. I have tried to adjust the cable and have it pretty much as far out as possible but even though a little better, it still is too close to where the throttle starts opening for my liking. When I was adjusting the cable, it seemed to me that there was a lot of play at the lever on the motor when the cable was not hooked up. Does anybody have any experience with this or any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

I would confirm that the motor itself shifts correctly. To do that, you can completely disconnect the cable at the motor and manually throw the motor in/out of gear. Grinding is very bad; it will rapidly wreck the A and C bevel gears, as well as the clutch dog. The fragments from that will act as shrapnel inside the LU, wearing everything a lot faster. So you need to get this straightened out right away, and may need to change the LU lube a couple of times if you find any metal fragments in it..

The proper way to adjust the RC cables, assuming they are correct at the RC box end (and in good condition), is to disconnect the cables at the motor, set both the motor and control to N (and idle), and adjust the clevis so that it slips easily onto the pin on the motor (then set the jamb nut to lock it there). If there appears to be a lot of play, you may have a sticky cable, that doesn't want to slide until the effort comes up enough to overcome the friction in the cable (if so, get a new cable)... or you may have a problem with either the RC box (doubtful at 500 hours), or poorly-connected cables at the RC box end. You can verify that the control and cable is delivering full throw to the arm on the motor by disconnecting the clevis at the motor, setting the motor in R, and shifting the RC box to R. The cable should be at least as far advanced as the arm of the motor.

The gear shift should fully engage as the control reaches the "detent" (about 32 degrees from neutral) at the control, before the throttle begins to open. More information is in your owner's manual. If you don't have one, you can d/l a copy from http://www.nissanmarine.com/tech_talk/owners_manuals.html

 

[Tracker Dave]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

Paul,

Thanks for the information. I did try setting the cable using the method that you described. It appeared to me that there was a fair amount of back and forth play at the lever on the motor when in neutral. Not sure if that is normal or not. If I moved the lever to the back of the play (toward reverse) and adjusted the clevis to slip on at that position, it was really too far out on the plastic clevis, as in there were not enough threads left for proper support. What I wound up doing was setting it around the middle of the play where I thought it still had enough threads left for proper support.

I will try shifting the LU into reverse without the cable attached and also what you suggested about shifting the control into reverse and checking the location of the clevis vs the lever. If it still grinds when I shift it manually, does that indicate a problem in the lower unit? Thanks again for the help.

Dave

 

[pvanv]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

Dave,

If you are "running out of threads" at the motor end, you may want to "get some threads back" by adjusting the clevis at the RC box end. If that clevis is run on too far, it can "use up" cable, so you don't have enough at the motor. Of course, confirm that the cables are properly engaged in the gates that retain the outer jackets. If the cable slipped out of the gate, you can get a lot of play as the entire cable moves.

Remember that you want to shift briskly. Don't "ease" the motor into gear, or it will chatter/grind, even with a perfect setup in perfect condition. If you can't get a "clean" shift, there may be some wear to the clutch dog and/or the ears on the gears where it engages. Depending on how bad that is, you may end up changing parts in the LU to get a nice firm "clunk" into gear. Are you having the same chatter when going into F?

 

[Tracker Dave]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

I'm not having the same issue going into forward. It shifts cleanly with no chatter as it should. I always try to shift outboards briskly to avoid chatter. The chatter in reverse is not a full on grind, more like a ka-clunk, but I know it should be cleaner, and leave a little more room before the throttle opens. It sounds like I may need to take the RC box apart and make sure all the stuff in there is right. I already looked at the gates on the motor that hold the cables and that is OK. I think it would help to have more adjustment at the motor end.

 

[Tracker Dave]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

Well I got to work on my shifting issue this weekend and thought I'd follow up with what I found. I believe the main issue was that when the cables were installed, whoever put them on switched the position of the cables in the gates that hold the cables at the front of the motor. Because of this, the cables were crossed and had to travel too far using up too much of the adjustment at the clevis end. I swapped the cables to the proper position so they were pointing directly at the levers they hook to, took up all the slack, and everything worked much better. Seems to be a clear case of IDGAS (I Don't Give A Shineola).

 

[pvanv]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

That's Great news. Much better than overhauling the LU !

 

[Tracker Dave]

Re: Nissan 70 TLDI shifting question

That's Great news. Much better than overhauling the LU !

Yep, the only thing I don't know is how long it was run like that. Probably since it was put on this boat in 2008, so hopefully, not too much wear was caused by the improper installation. It still engages reverse with a bit of a clunk, but you can shift it much more quickly since you don't have to worry about unintentionally giving it a big shot of throttle as soon as it engages. The LU oil was new when I got it, but I'll probably change it soon to check for metal.

Thanks again Paul for all your insight and suggestions.