Bump in the night...Day time to

[Ultra Rider]

I have an 86 Evinrude 115 on my 29' pontoon. Motor starts and runs great with the exception of one little problem. As I am motoring along it produces a hard bump feeling almost as if I hit a log in the water. It does this if I am going slow or fast. Sometimes will happen every 2 or 3 minutes sometimes every 5 to 10 minutes. Just one time every time it does it.
I also noticed Saturday that my throttle would some time act as if I had the start/warm up level raised (as I would put it into gear). As soon as I would move the lever foward, the RPMS would increase to much and it would seem to jump in and out of gear.
Could these problems be related?
Please ole wise masters of the forum, give a young buck some worthy advice and direction to correct this problem.

Thanks,
Ultra Rider AKA Clay

 

[david_r]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

sounds like your throttle and shift cables are out of adjustment or sticking.

how long have you had the boat?

does the lower unit have lube in it?

when was the last time you changed the lu oil?

 

[Ultra Rider]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

Thanks for the quick reply David,
I have had the boat for about a year but have only recently started using it.

I Changed the lower unit oil Saturday morning and had the same problem Saturday afternoon.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

I would bet on a worn clutch dog and fwd gear, usually caused by "gentle", tentative, shifting, rather than brisk, quick shifts. "as if I hit a log in the water" is caused by the dog jumping out of engagement with the recess in the gear face. There's a remote chance it's a cable adjustment, but I wouldn't count on that too much.

 

[david_r]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

hopefully since it has been sitting for a while you only have bad cables or something simple like that.

wilde1j gave you the next thing to suspect .................... and the expensive one too........... a used lower unit would probably be as cheap as having it fixed.

 

[Ultra Rider]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

What would be the best way to check the cables and is there any certain type of lube I should use on them ie., graphite etc.
Thank you both for your help. I sure hope it is the cables!!!
Clay

 

[david_r]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

if ti where me i would pull the hood off and have someone move the throttle back and forth making note of where the shift cable starts stops and pauses in fwd rev and neu.

then you can disconnect them and move the shift lever by hand and see if the cable is allowing it to go fully into gear.......... if it starts and stops in the same places.

you will have to trun the prop to get it to shift through all the gears.

i had a cable problem last year. turned out the outer housing had been breaking for a while and i had the bump a few times before it let go completely.......... then no shift. that was fun too.

you may could use somekind of penetrating oil to lube or free them, and i have even heard of people pulling them apart............. but for what they cost i would just buy another.

good luck i hope its not the lu.

 

[crxess]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

Forward is normally a pull on the cable and reverse is a push. A stretched cable will easily engage reverse but only partially engage forward.

Turn the prop and engage forward gear. At the back end of the cable, check for additional movement in the shift linkage.

Adjust cable to take out the slack and test both forward/reverse for proper operation.

 

[Ultra Rider]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

I checked prices on new cable and it looks like I can get one here from Iboats for $35.00 or less including shipping. The one that is on it looks to be original equipment. I will see if I can do some of the things that ya'll (yep I'm from Arkansas) have suggested to get it going but may go ahead and replace the cable anyway just so I know it is a good one.
Thanks for all of your help and I will let you know what happens.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

Disconnect the shift cable (one is shift, the other is throttle) and run the boat shifting back at the motor manually. If it won't stay in gear, it's not the cables.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

Disconnect the shift cable (one is shift, the other is throttle) and run the boat shifting back at the motor manually. If it won't stay in gear, it's not the cables. A shop manual would be a considerable help in adjusting the cables correctly.

 

[Ultra Rider]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

Took her out to the lake today and did what had been suggested. Unhooked the cable and put it in gear. Ran fine until the vibration caused it to jump out of gear and over rev which scared the S&!$ out of me. Put it back in gear and drove around a little more with no bumping. Put the cable back on and after a little adjusting tried it again. For the most part it ran good until I get to WOT and then I start to get the bump again. I can back her down a little and the bump stops.
I am happy to run her a little slow if it helps me make it through one more year. After that I think I will be in the market for a new motor.
Thanks for all of the help. I really appreciate it.

Clay

 

[david_r]

Re: Bump in the night...Day time to

no need to replace the whole eng only the lower unit.

around my neck of the woods they go for around $350-$600 give or take ....................... it usually depends on cosmetics and hours on the lu.

you can also buy brand new ones for an arm or leg ........... the refurbished units are fairly reasonable too..............especially considering the price of new and used complete engs