another alpha shift thread

[rthomas]

Short answer- I know, lower cable. It intermitantly wont engage reverse and the shift interupt switch is working properly but thats not the problem. when it does this it will grind but wont engage other times it works just fine, when it wont engage ive removed the cable from the interupt switch and manually operated it but it still wont engage- bigger problem?? the only other thing I can think of is there might be a lot of crap built up in the cavity at the other end of the cable -the boat is moored and was last year too. If this is the case (i hope) what could i treat that with? Im guessing albatment paint wont work because there isnt any real water movement in there??

 

[Don S]

Re: another alpha shift thread

There shouldn't be water in that cavity at all, let alone growing things that would stop the cable.
Most likely it's a bad cable causing all of your problems, buy you need to get it out of the water and the drive off to check it any further.

PS: You have a PM.

 

[rthomas]

Re: another alpha shift thread

Thanks Don, Ive had water in there before, Im guessing from the shift rod bushing? -it doesnt seem like it would be water tight at the bottem where it goes through into the exhaust port??

 

[Don S]

Re: another alpha shift thread

You still need to pull the drive off and look. The drive needs to come off yearly or every 100 hours (whichever comes first) for basic maintenance and inspection.
There is no way in the world you can grease the coupler without pulling the drive.

 

[rthomas]

Re: another alpha shift thread

Allright, new cable is in the old one seemed ok as usual it was wet in the cavity but I had enough grease on everything to keep most of the funk under control. What I did find was a slightley bent shift rod (lower) mayby the last time I had the drive off it got hung up during re-install?? it wasnt too hard to bend back so I could see how it might have gotten bent in the first place. Of course this morning going from the marina to the ramp it was just fine
I'll find out if that took care of it in the morning.

 

[rthomas]

Re: another alpha shift thread

Its still doing it- same as before, but I think I figured something out- the lower the idle speed the more likely it is not to engage, if its up around 8-850 it shifts ok but I know this is a lttle too fast. last week I changed the gear lube, there was a little metalic debrie on the magnet, nothing grainy. Is it time to think about a new lower unit?

 

[Don S]

Re: another alpha shift thread

Have you downloaded service manual #6 from the adults only sticky yet? if so Section 1C, page 38 (1C-38) and read that section, it will describe all the things you can do to isolate the excess play/travel in the system.
You could have excess slop in the control, the cables, the shift spool etc. It's not time to start looking for a new lower.