Neutral Slide Bar does not clear detent on OMC remote control

[cgraeser]

First, a huge thanks to you all. We bought our boat (1993 Chris Craft Concept 186 with 1993 Evinrude 140) a few weeks ago. It's a bit of a project, but seemed like the right boat for the right price. This forum has been a real help on the projects I've done so far (replace water pump, clear out telltale hole) and I really appreciate it.

Next up is my sticky remote. I've read the posts on this topic, and am in the middle of replacing the cables and lubing the unit. However, I noticed that the red neutral slide does not retract all the way up into the housing when the handle is squeezed, remaining with a little portion of the end hanging down into the neutral detent, which could well be contributing the the difficulty in shifting out of neutral. I'll post up a pic as soon as it gets light (and I get three posts in).

Has anyone experienced this? Do you see a downside to taking the belt sander to the end to trim it so it is flush with the housing when the lever is pulled in/up? I don't see anywhere that is obviously malformed or worn.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

 

[cgraeser]

(post #2)

Hey, do I win some type of award for having signed up on this forum in 2002 and not making my first post until 2017? (back then I picked up an old Sea King and did a little work on it - replaced the floor- but eventually just gave it to a friend, who gave it to another friend of his)

 

[cgraeser]

(post #3)

I've always had boats, but mostly small sailboats/canoes/kayaks without motors. I did have one sailboat with a 6 HP Evinrude. It just ran, I never did anything with it.

 

[cgraeser]

No Title

Here is a picture. You can see how the red slide does not completely retract.

 

[flyingscott]

Remove the red handle and see if anything is binding it up don't lose the spring. Never had to grind one down to make it work.

 

[cgraeser]

Remove the red handle and see if anything is binding it up don't lose the spring. Never had to grind one down to make it work.

Good suggestion. I will do so.

 

[cgraeser]

I went home at lunch and removed the red handle and gave it a try per FS' suggestion. No difference. Appears that there is a spring loaded ball and a round cam with cutouts for the ball. The cutout at neutral looks like it may be a little worn, allowing the ball to go farther in and making it difficult to move. I will try to clean and lube it and see where that gets me.

Thank you FS

 

[cgraeser]

Last night I went ahead and pulled out the detent ball and springs. I wasn't prepared for the rest of everything to come tumbling out, but I did finally get it all back together. That was the issue - the detent hole for the ball is so worn that the ball goes too far in, making it really difficult to pop back down. I lubed everything up and put it back together and it seems to work fine. I still need to get throttle cable attached and adjusted. I was considering getting some softer springs to lighten up the action a little, but honestly I might just leave it as is if the neutral slide bar does its job.

How stiff is the action supposed to be on these? I back off the tension screw and as I mentioned lubed everything up really good, but it still takes more effort than I would have expected (no cables attached).