Won't come out of gear!

[thewooddogg]

Good morning everyone,

I took my boat out yesterday. It performed really well! No gas leaks! No dying at idle (last years problems).. etc. However, it didn't like to come out of gear. When I did maintenance on the boat this year I adjusted the shift cable perfectly. The drive goes into gear perfectly and smoothly in both directions. I also rebuilt the carb.

Now it idles around 800 - 900 in gear which is about 300 - 400 more then the service manual and the sticker on the engine says. I try to turn the idle down with the idle screws and the engine starts to run really rough and likes to die... so as far as I can tell it's as low as I can make it. Now honestly, I know next to nothing about carbs...but I've read that pieces of the carb can be swapped out. This boat was originally bought in Utah as far as I know, and I now own it in AZ. Is there something more I can do with the carb to lower the idle because of the elevation difference?

Based of that, I'm thinking either the Idle or the ESA won't let me take it out of gear. Although, the ESA worked great last year. What do you guys think? Would having an idle of 800ish stop me from taking it out of gear? And how do I test the ESA to make sure it's working?

Thanks ahead of time to everyone on this forum! It's a wealth of information.

 

[Don S]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Get a full tuneup, (check the compression too) and get the carb idle mixure adjusted so it will idle down to it's proper rpm and the shift will problably work.

 

[thewooddogg]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Thanks Don.

The basic tune up stuff was replaced last year. I can do it again. But, if I turn the idle screws in any more, the engine starts to die. Since the boat was originally used at higher elevations of Utah, now that it's being used around 1200 feet, should it be "Re-jetted"?

 

[Don S]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Did it run ok last year at the lower altitued after it was tuned up?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

It's definitely idling too fast.

You can tell if your ESA is working.
Just move the actuator (#22 in the picture below From BRP & Doug Russell) up or down when idling in neutral. The ignition will "pulse" and cause the engine to sound like it's "loping" If it does that, your ESA is working.

 

[thewooddogg]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Yeah, except for at idle it would stumble a bit and sometimes die.. that's right before the carb starting leaking gas everywhere because the gaskets were old and the fuel bowl screws were loose.

I just read something about a idle speed screw on a holley. I've have to look for that. I thought the needles on the side adjusted idle speed???

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

OK,

You need to either rebuild or replace the carb...before you go much further.

Here's one place you could get an exchange carb. http://www.marinecarburetor.com/index.html

 

[Don S]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Idle mixture is what the screws on the side of the carb adjust, not speed. Do you have a 2 or 4 bbl carb?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

It might also help if you do a little reading on the Holley carbs..

http://www.holley.com/TechService/Library.asp is pretty good.

There's more

http://www.holley.com/data/TechService/Technical/Carburetor Tech Info.pdf


Regards,

Rick

 

[thewooddogg]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

HT32BSX115 - Thanks for the reply! I actually just rebuilt the carb this year. Bought the Holley kit and rebuilt it step by step per their instructions. And thank you for the ESA instructions. I'll test that on muff's soon.

Don S - I can't seem to find a idle speed screw. The OMC manual for my boat says the idle speed is adjusted by the idle mixture screws. *sigh* I have a 2 bbl carb I believe (2 holes under the flame arrestor). Holly model 80382.

Anything else that can make idle that high that I can check or adjust?

 

[Don S]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

The OMC manual for my boat says the idle speed is adjusted by the idle mixture screws.

And what brand OMC manual might that be.

Trust me, the idle speed screw is next to the linkage for the throttle cable attachement. It screws through the base and adjusts the speed only, not the mixture. You may have to adjust your cable to, if it's not allowing the linkage to contact the stop.

 

[thewooddogg]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

Don S - It's an OMC brand OMC manual. It never once mentions a "idle speed screw" or anything. Just talks about setting idle speed with the mixture needles. Regardless, I think I found the screw... it's got a spring on it and is at the base near the linkage like you said. (also found a video on youtube pointing it out).

I just adjusted it.. and it indeed lowered the idle... I think I need to still adjust the throttle cable like you said, it doesn't seem to go completly to idle at the idle detent, but at least high idle won't keep it from coming out of gear now.

One more question, is it normal to have foam at the top of the drives gear oil? Or does that mean I've got some water in the drive?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Won't come out of gear!

When you make that idle adjustment you have to make sure that the cable from the control is not holding the throttle off idle. It's usually best to adjust your idle with the throttle cable disconnected. Then reconnect the cable (you may have to adjust the cable too)