Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

[BigBoatinOkie]

I know there is a bunch of threads dealing with shifting issues, but I couldn't find one that matched my problem exactly. When the boat is in the water, it's really hard to shift, particularly when trying to find neutral. When in forward gear and I want to go to neutral, I have to really yank hard on the shifter multiple times to get it to shift, but I often skip right past neutral and go to reverse. The same happens when trying to go from reverse to neutral. So when all I want to do is stop, I sit there cramming it from forward to reverse to forward to reverse and eventually I find neutral. Just a little after I started having this problem(right after I put the boat in the water) I went out on the lake and prepared to pull a skier. When I put in forward and started to throttle up, the dang thing died. I wasn't ready to give up, so from then on, when the skier was ready I had to put it in gear and feather the throttle up and down rapidly to keep it from dying and it would pick up and accelerate after a few pumps of the gas. This seemed like a carburetion issue to me, but both issues cropped up within minutes of each other. Am I just that unlucky or are they related. BTW it's a '86 3.7 merc/alpha 1. After I got the boat home and studied a little I went out and looked at the drive unit and noticed that the oil vent screw was not there. Lord knows how long that has been gone. I had only bought the boat a few days prior so don't grill me to hard. I wonder what all I screwed up. I hope this $1900 boat don't end up costing me an arm and a leg. I appologize for the really long post. Us country boys take a long time to tell a story.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Start with replacing the lower shift cable before you destroy the gears.
Go to the Adults Only thread and download the manual for your drive.

The fill plug was missing? Holy cow man! The lower is probably shot.
Pull the lower drain on the drive and let the water out...
Start looking for a new drive.......

 

[danond]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Well, I dunno what you did to your drive with screws missing, but if it's tough to shift it can only be a few things:

- Cables
- Throttle/Shift Control
- Internal drive issue

Disconnect the throttle and control-shift cable and shift it back at the engine. See if things change. If it's still really tough, the problem is in your drive or it's your transom shift cable.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

So I'm guessing that if I spin the prop by hand in neutral, it should spin smoothly and quietly right?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

So I'm guessing that if I spin the prop by hand in neutral, it should spin smoothly and quietly right?

Ayuh,.... That'll only be turning the Propshaft,+ nothing more...

My Guess is,... You need a New Lower Shift Cable to fix the Shifting/ Stalling issue....
And,...
With the vent screw Missing,... Probably a New complete Outdrive....

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

So I'm guessing that if I spin the prop by hand in neutral, it should spin smoothly and quietly right?

In neutral, yes - quietly both directions. If it locks up one direction and ratchets in the other, then it is still in gear.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Just my luck. Buy an old boat in pretty darn good shape and trash the S.O.B. in a 1 hr. trip to the lake.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

I guess I don't understand how the lower cable can cause me to have problems shifting in both directions. Wouldn't it only affect one or the other? Please explain.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Courtesy of Don S in the "adults only" sticky at the top of the page:

How the shift interrupt helps with shifting

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Yep, that helps alot. I actually skimmed over that article, but I apparently didn't pay enough attention the first time. thanks.

Now, about the oil vent problem. As I said, I just bought this boat and I've only had it on the water twice for an hour or two. I don't know how long the oil vent screw has been absent, but I didn't notice any problems with the drive while she was on the water. In fact, I thought the boat performed quite well when I wasn't trying to shift. So how do I know if I have a serious problem, as some have said I've probably screwed my outdrive. I guess I assumed that if there was a problem severe enough to warrant a complete outdrive replacement, I'd feel it or hear it pretty easily on the water, and certainly wouldn't think I could still pull up a 225 lb. skier. I'm probably wrong though. As you can see, I'm not too boat savvy. Thanks for the help.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Okay, after work I went straight home and drained the oil out of drive unit. It had some water in it, but it was still mostly oil and was fairly thick. I'm thinking that the vent screw has not been absent for long. The oil seemed to have plenty of lubricating ability, so i'm hoping the drive will be okay. Is there anything I should check or should I do anything special before refill the oil?

 

[cooter2506]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Refill you outdrive with oil. run it on muffs and then drain oil. If no water take it out on the lake and run it. then take it hom eand drain the oil. check for water. if none you might have dodged a bullet. As far as your shifting issue. You probably do need a lower shift cable like everyone else said.

 

[BigBoatinOkie]

Re: Alpha 1 hard as heck to shift.

Okay, thanks for the advice. Will be a few days before I can get her on the lake. Guess I need to order a lower shift cable anyway. We'll cross our fingers and hope the the outdrive isn't screwed, because I don't have the money for a new one.