Alpha One Shifts Into Forward, Not Reverse

[greg82255]

Hello,

I have a 1986 Mercruiser 350/Alpha One. I bought the boat last October and test drove it and all worked fine. This spring I removed the lower unit to change the water pump impeller and I'm pretty sure I put everything back together correctly (everything was in forward gear). I then replaced the Quicksilver throttle/shifter with a Keikhaefer dual-lever control. I started the boat today and wanted to test everything before I went out to the lake. I found that the boat shifted perfectly into forward gear, but when it went to reverse gear, it sounded like the gears were grinding and didn't shift into reverse. I tried again, no grinding this time, but again no reverse. Tried two more times, heard grinding one more time, still no reverse. Needless to say, no trip to the lake today... Any ideas as to what's wrong? I should also mention I replaced the original upper shift cable with a 33C cable. Didn't touch the lower. Could this just be an adjustment issue? Thanks in advance - I'd like to get on the water tomorrow if possible.

 

[Don S]

Re: Alpha One Shifts Into Forward, Not Reverse

Since you replaced the control and the shift cable from the control to the engine. I would venture to say that your problem is in the adjustment of that cable and control. You need to adjust your new cable so it's going farther into reverse and not so far into forward.

 

[greg82255]

Re: Alpha One Shifts Into Forward, Not Reverse

Alright, thanks Don. I'll go outside and adjust the cable and report back.