Just replaced shift cable now engine won’t start - PLEASE HELP

[5Liter95]

Good evening. We just bought our very first boat for our family. It’s a 1999 Sea Ray 180 with the 3.0L motor. After we bought it but before we took it out onto the water, we noticed the shift cable bellow had a split in it. I ordered the quicksilver kit with everything I needed to do the job. A buddy and I did the repair and followed the instructions step by step. Did all the adjustments and made sure the prop locked counterclockwise in forward and it locked clockwise in reverse. We took the boat and launched it and the boat failed multiple times to start. With a few pumps of the throttle, the boat would run and than sputter out after a few seconds even when leaving the throttle wide open. My question is did I not properly adjust the shift cable right or might I be having a fuel issue? I am torn and my wife and I are quickly losing confidence in the boating life. Any type of feedback will be much appreciated.

 

[nola mike]

Sounds more like fuel. Was it running ok before? Shift interrupt is really the only thing that you could/should have messed with. Discontent it and see for starters .

 

[Rick Stephens]

Hate to give you a bad taste when you are just starting, but a 20 plus year old boat that is new to you was old and neglected to the previous owner. Safe and financially sane boating would have you go through all the regular maintenance items that the previous owner neglected to do for the last few years.

You can find the service manual for your motor and drive at www.boatinfo.no I can see a whole lot of possibilities making your boat not run, from a poorly adjusted shift interrupt switch, to old gas or water and crud in the gas, which would clog up filters and ports in your carburetor. Cure for that is to dump the water separator into a glass jar and look at it to see if there's a lot of junk. And if so, replacing fuel filters and rebuilding the carb. Filters are an annual maintenance item, so need to be done before you go out anyway. And if you haven't already, the outdrive should be pulled, a 15 minute job, and the u-joints, gimbal bearing serviced and inspected. Personally, I'd be replacing the water pump impeller and changing the lube in the drive before I took it out.

Only thing more expensive to maintain than a boat is an airplane. Both are unforgiving of missing maintenance.

 

[5Liter95]

Yes the boat did run good on our sea trial. We have been researching for over a year on these boats and checked over the boat very carefully during the sea trial. We just put fresh gas in it within a week ago, before the cable install. We have started it a couple different times before we replaced the shift cable no problem. I wouldn’t so much say we had problems with it stalling while shifting because we had problems with it starting in general. I don’t know if we just ended up flooding the engine with our attempts or it’s not getting enough fuel to stay running or the cable adjustment is off and won’t allow the motor to start. Thanks for the quick responses and I hope this made our situation a little more clear.

 

[nola mike]

Shift interrupt grounds the ignition. Engine won't be hard to start, it won't start. Again, disconnect it to be sure. Otherwise Rick's suggestions about the fuel (and the rest as well)

 

[5Liter95]

How would I disconnect it? From the picture I have of it on my boat, it does look like it’s a connection. Maybe just take the two Phillips screw out? Would that work?

 

[Rick Stephens]

How would I disconnect it? From the picture I have of it on my boat, it does look like it’s a connection. Maybe just take the two Phillips screw out? Would that work?

Might be worth your time to read on how the shift interrupt works, then it will be obvious how to check it.

 

[ronaldreagan]

There is an interlock on my 3.0 associated with the shift position to prevent starting when in gear. you'll see two wires at the top of the shift cable bracket on the engine. Check to see if it's active or requires adjustment since the cable was repalced...

 

[Rick Stephens]

There is an interlock on my 3.0 associated with the shift position to prevent starting when in gear. you'll see two wires at the top of the shift cable bracket on the engine. Check to see if it's active or requires adjustment since the cable was repalced...

That's the shift interrupt. Not a lock out when in gear. The wiring for the in gear lockout is in the control handle.

 

[nola mike]

Ok, just so you don't get too far in the weeds here... You have a fuel issue. Unrelated to your shift cable.

 

[5Liter95]

Ok, just so you don't get too far in the weeds here... You have a fuel issue. Unrelated to your shift cable.

That is kind of where my head is right now.. I would like to try a couple different things just as a process of elimination.

I was told by a guy I work with about checking the fuel/water separator filter but after doing some research it seems like the 3.0L don’t come standard with them. Is this correct?