mercruiser shift arm help

[sti1471]

I have a 1984 MC1 Stern-drive.

The black bushing on my shift arm was worn down and my boat was not shifting into reverse, but it would go into forward. So I took it to a marine shop and they told me I needed to change my shift arm. I went down to the marine shop and bought a new shift arm. I installed the new shift arm with the white gasket under the shift arm. I greased it all up very nicely. After I screwed in the set screw I moved the shift arm by hand and it was very tight. It is hard to move the shift arm back and forth by hand. The old one I took off had a gasket under it as well and it was easy to move it by hand.

I installed the stern-drive and adjusted the shift cable. From the driver seat the shift handle is very hard to move from Neutral to Forward, and back to Neutral, and neutral to reverse.

I then removed the out-drive again and removed the shift arm, and installed it without the gasket, and the shift arm moves nice and smooth. Do you need to use the gasket, and what is the main purpose for it? Why is the new shift arm very tight when the old one was free moving. did I do something wrong?

 

[achris]

Re: mercruiser shift arm help

The flat plastic washer is needed, you can't run without it. If the arm is tight when the washer is installed, then I would be looking for corrosion where the washer sits, or the upper shift-shaft lower bushing may have slipped down and is tight on the shoe when the washer is installed. Just give it a light tap towards the top of the bell-housing with a hammer... See if it moves any....

Chris

 

[sti1471]

Re: mercruiser shift arm help

Thanks achris, I will check that as soon as I get home. I am wondering if there is a slight difference in size from the OEM shift arm, and the sierra replacement shift arm. If the bushings are good, I might just have to mil away some of the bottom of the shift arm for better fitting.

The old shift arm that I removed needed to be broken off, so I think it is possible that the lower bushing might have popped down when I was breaking the old one off.