throttle advancing while going in to gear, not after in gear

[fastang50]

Hey folks I have a question about our 1983 ish Mercruiser 260. I replaced the shift interrupt plate when we got the boat and had never operated the boat before replacing it. The good news is it shifts and the engine runs very smoothly.

The bad news is that the "timing" between the shift and throttle opening is poor, as in they happen at the same time. It makes for some abrupt dock handling. How do I adjust the timing of the two cables so I go into gear a bit before the throttle starts opening? I don't even mind overshooing and giving up some of the maximum throttle travel, we don't need 260 hp for our purposes.

 

[Don S]

Re: throttle advancing while going in to gear, not after in gear

Cables are improperly adjusted (Throttle and shifter). Too much preload on the throttle cable pushing the linkage to idle is one example.

 

[fastang50]

Re: throttle advancing while going in to gear, not after in gear

I'm going to dredge this one back up in the hopes that it might help someone else someday. I solved the problem this summer. It turns out that the shift interrupt plate is adjustable at the point where the forward shift cable (going to the helm unit) attaches. It's slotted such that you can change the relative travel of the arm where the lower cable (to the lower unit) attaches with the same movement of the forward cable. Move the cable connection point towards the pivot and you get an earlier shift relative to throttle movement. I didn't find this sooner because I'm looking down at the engine in our boat, not from the side! Hope this helps someone.