Mercruiser 3.0 shift cable adjustment is kicking my butt

[Ed Harris]

installed new short shift cable last year and reverse worked but you could tell it needed some adjusting. So I decided to do the procedure from achris and btdoctor. I can adjust forward no problem. I can adjust the engagement into forward at the detent, before the detent and just past the detent. But reverse is a different animal. I can get it to where you can hear the dogs but if I go further the shift kill switch shut the motor down right when you think it's going to engage. What am I missing or doing wrong? HELP

 

[Ed Harris]

Edit to the above. I have also moved to end to the top of the slot and this helps but does not make it fully engage.

 

[nola mike]

Did you check that the cable is moving freely, and did you check everything for slop as in chris' video? I had a bum replacement cable a while back that was binding, didn't realize it until I disconnected and tried to shift by hand. I've also re-routed it incorrectly. I'd start by disconnecting the cable and making sure it is easy easy to shift by hand.

 

[xltier]

it could also be something in the linkage after the cable.sounds like your running out of cable travel before its totally engaged. either what was mentioned already or possibley something wrong or bent in the bell housing. A bent vertical shaft can cause problems.

 

[achris]

Something else is going on. If you get shift cutout activating before reverse is fully engaged, pull the drive and check the cable is moving fully, and that the bottom of the cavity (in the bell housing) is not full of crud and bottoming the cable before it's traveled far enough...

Chris.....

 

[Bt Doctur]

or the shift spool is worn and needs replacement, there is a procdure to test it

 

[Ed Harris]

Thanks for the replies. Finally got a second set of hands this evening so I am going to make a few checks again. Then reanalyze the situation.

 

[Bt Doctur]

page 1C-38 in here
http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6C1R3.PDF

 

[Ed Harris]

Ok. Took short cable off of shift plate. When I push the cable in by hand the prop will lock in forward. When I pull the cable all the way out by hand prop still turns with the clacking sound. If I pull really really hard it will barely lock into reverse. So I am guessing that I have something going on in the bell housing. Would this be a good guess?

 

[Ed Harris]

Edit to above. Last year when replacing cable I also replace the shift shoe along with the arm attached to the upper shift shaft. Maybe. That is hanging it up

 

[Luv2fish36]

Might want to pull the drive off and see if it grabs gears when turning the shift lever by hand. Also while you have the drive off check the shift shaft in the bell housing make sure it's not freezing up. And also while the drive is off remove the shift cable end off the bracket so you can push in and out should be smooth and easy.

 

[achris]

or the shift spool is worn and needs replacement, there is a procdure to test it

You know, all this talk about worn shift spools. In over 25 years, I think I have seen exactly 0.... Always another reason. Crud in the back of the shift slide, crud in the slide cavity in the drive, bent shift shafts, splayed shoe on the bottom of the upper shift shaft, seals leaking in the bell housing and the shaft getting tight, forgotten washer on the top of the lower shift shaft. But worn spool, nope, never seen one yet.....

Chris....

 

[JerryIrons]

Ed,
I had a problem similar to yours at one point, I could configure my shifting so that forward worked perfectly, but going in reverse did not. It would "almost" shift into reverse. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I was able to fix this by adjusting my shifting in "reverse" so to speak. Inotherwords, I adjusted my shifting so that reverse worked first, and then tweaked it so that forward worked. This worked fine for a few years, until I had a shift boot rip and decided to replace the whole shifting setup since it was old and seemed kind of stiff anyway. I found that once I put in all new shift cables etc, much to my surprise everything configured like you are supposed to by how the manual states and chris and others state. In retrospect I think I had a cable that was a little stretched, a slightly worn shift spool (and still do, it's a 1986 outdrive !), and crud in my lines making things stiff.

So like Chris said, I think you have something configured wrong. If you can't shift it by hand (pulling and pushing the cable) successfully (locking in reverse and forward and checking prop), you will never get it to work mechanically correctly.

 

[Bt Doctur]

achris, since the mid 70`s I`ve had 2 cases of worn spools Sometimes the tipoff is seeing the lower shoe go past the 12:00 position There is a test for it but the drive must come off. Pertaing to the shift cable, you can have no more that 2 threads visable when installing the cable.On the shift slide you only tighten the setscrew until the slide just spins, leaving it too loose affects the cable travel

 

[achris]

... since the mid 70`s I`ve had 2 cases ...

Wow, THAT many. My apologies, I didn't realise it is that common an occurrence. So when I get a Mercruiser that won't go into gear properly, I'll immediately tear it down to replace the spool. Thank you.

achris

:facepalm:

 

[Bt Doctur]

not immediatly, only after you have exausted all other possibilities

 

[Ed Harris]

Ok Been doing some reading of posts and your posts. Started raining this evening so I have not pulled the drive yet. Maybe it will let up long enough for me to do it. High School softball season is almost over so I will have tons more time to get this thing right. Working a regular job, coaching softball and flipping a house takes alot of time....I will give an update as soon as I possibly can. tks

 

[Ed Harris]

Update on the cable. Took the outdrive off and there was a white gelatinous goop around where the outer sheath screws into the bell housing. It had a slimy feel to it. See attached photo.

 

[Bt Doctur]

that is what we call aluminum mud , created when water enters the shift cavity and corroded the aluminum. You need to remove the setscrew from the slide, remove the inner core and clean the inside of the slide with the correct drill bit to remove the crud that was forced in there. Enough of it will prevent full reverse engagement

 

[achris]

And once you've done that ^^^, remove the cross-pin from the upper shift shaft lever, pull it off, then pull the upper shift shaft down and replace the seal in bell housing. Given this is likely an Alpha One (not stated anywhere in this thread), then you need to put the kit in... -805041A2

Chris.......