Shift cable problem

[caisson1]

Hi, recently my mechanic tell me I need to replace my shift cable. It goes from the top of my '87 Mercruiser 3.0 engine to the stern drive. He said it has too much play in it. Has anyone ever heard of this? I have an Alpha one stern drive and replaced the cable about 4 yrs. ago with a Sierra brand shift cable kit.

My mechanic had the upper and lower off for other work, he said it all looked good and when he put it all back together, he said he could barely get it so the control engages both forward and reverse. He said he favored the forward gear more since it's used more.

Recently took the cable off the engine and had a friend engage the prop in Reverse and Forward. Cable slides smooth and engages nicely. Anyone know the length of normal travel a cable should have from Forward to reverse?

Also, I have had continuing trouble with the Mercruiser control and am planning to switch it out with a Teleflex Morse SL-3 Side Mount Throttle Control as soon as I find which one I need.
Thanks,
Chris

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: Shift cable problem

the manual tells you how to adjust it . I did mine on the fly by adjusting a little at a time. You put it in forward gear and adjust barrel and then to reverse, but there is a cutout switch in there so get the manual.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Shift cable problem

Anyone know the length of normal travel a cable should have from Forward to reverse?

Ayuh,.... It's All explained quite clearly in the factory Manual,...
Which is available in the Adults Only section at the Top of this forum....

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Shift cable problem

too much play may be caused by the plastic roller being broken on the shift arm, or the setscrew was not safety wired and worked itself out .

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Shift cable problem

Also make sure ther is no "lost motion". What I mean by this is that when you shift at the control and the desired cable travel is a certain distance "X", you are not getting "X" by the time it gets down to your drive. Causes of this can be anything from the control itself, the attach point for the cable at the control, not supporting the shift cable from the control back to the engine, or the lower shift cable's housing being damaged. I have found that by tie wrapping the shift cable from the control back to the engine removes a lot of "lost motion".

 

[caisson1]

Re: Shift cable problem

Thanks for the input guys. I did download the manual and found free travel in the remote control shift cable should be 3" + or - 1/8". I have 2 11/16" from forward click to reverse click. From full power forward to full power reverse I get 3 1/16" so it looks like I have slop in the cable or it's out of adjustment or bad remote control.

Didn't find any figure for lower shift cable free travel but with the cable off the engine, I got 2" from forward to reverse while someone locked the propeller. Using the shifter from forward click to reverse click I got 1 5/8". Can get it up to 1 7/8" by putting it at full power in either direction.

Appears there is about 3/16 or 1/4 inch slop in the lower shift cable where you can pull it slightly back and forth without feeling like you're moving the shift slide. Maybe when I put on the new remote control by Teleflex/Morse, I can get the proper adjustment.