Throttle control supposed to be this way??

[gemajean]

Hello all, I'm new to boating and I'm enjoying it a lot but I have always wondered about something and I was hoping you all could help.

I have an 03 Four Winns Vista 268 with a 5.7 Volvo/Penta 320 engine. The question is about the throttle control. When I want to either move forward or reverse, I find that I have to move the throttle almost half way down in both directions before I can feel or hear the prop/engine engaging.

So in other words, if the throttle moved almost 180 degrees forward and backward, I'm finding that I have to move the throttle up to 45 degrees to go forward and then all the way back to 135 degrees (45 degrees the opposite way) to go backwards.

Is this normal??

Since this is my first boat, I have no frame of reference at all.

I find that this is a problem when I'm in motion and it's most difficult when trying to dock as I have to move the throttle so far forward and backward to get into my slip, that sometimes because of this, my docking is very sloppy.

Again, is this normal and can this be adjusted?

Finally, I also noticed that the throttle itself is very stiff and hard to move forwards and backwards also. Again, is this normal?

Thank you all for your experience and your help! I sincerely appreciate it!!!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Throttle control supposed to be this way??

you very well may be in need of new control cables. i have a 99, 5.7 vp, replaced cables, everything is smooth now.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Throttle control supposed to be this way??

It sound like something is way out of adjustment or hooked up wrong...or the cables are stretched and worn out really bad.

The gear should engage in just a couple of degrees of motion from the nuetral position. You should only have to move your hand a little bit to go from forward to nuetral and into reverse. I can see that if you need to move as far as you describe that it would make manuevering around a dock really tricky.

 

[gemajean]

Re: Throttle control supposed to be this way??

Guess I'll have someone check out the cables then. I hope it's not a pricey repair, but I guess it's just another one of those things that needs to be fixed on a boat...

Thanks for all of your input!