Alpha one Gen one no reverse

[Fordon40]

I have an alpha one Gen one on a 1983 sting ray with a 170 meecruiser motor. I have no reverse. I have changed all the cables and done the adjustments several times. Also replaced the shift shaft. I still have no reverse even though the gears in the lower unit will engage by hand and reverse will engage by hand at the motor. When I put it into reverse at the shifter I have forwards and neutral. Am I missing something? Just took the boat out and under load will sometimes have reverse. When shifting into forwards the boat will jump before going into gear.

 

[Fishermark]

Did this only start happening after the work you did? Or did you do the work because this was happening?

If it started after you did the work, then you need to start from scratch and adjust things accordingly. Look at the stickies at the top of the page for more information.

Another possibility is you forgot the stainless steel washer under the intermediate shift shaft. It is easy to do.

 

[thumpar]

It sounds like the lower shift cable it not adjusted correctly since you say it goes into forward before it should. The forward throw is a tad much and not enough for reverse.

 

[Fordon40]

I started replacing the cables because they did not work. I did the adjustments to spec as per the manual. If I move any adjustments I lose neutral. I was wondering if there is possibly something wrong with the shift spool as it seems reverse is several inches too far away. Both the rubber washer and the metal washer are installed on the shift shaft. I will randomly get reverse If i get frustrated and throw it quickly into reverse.

 

[Fordon40]

and you have to get past 2 o'clock before it will engage in forward gear. just to clarify it is not shifting early, but late.

 

[thumpar]

There is an adjustment on how much throw there is. You loosen it at the arm and move the cable end up and down to change it.

Here is a video achris made that explains it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s_tgevX2aI&feature=youtu.be

 

[Fordon40]

I have also done the adjustments at the rear pin and it hasnt taken enough of the slop out. Forced by hand it will go and with the lower unit off it will engage by spinning the shift shaft. This is where the issue is. It just seems like something isnt working properly once everything is put together.

 

[thumpar]

When everything is put together have someone move the shift for you and get your head up in front of the drive and watch the action.

 

[Fishermark]

You can test the shift spool. There is a video I made up in the stickies that shows how.

 

[Bt Doctur]

If the shift spool was badly worn, fwd on the brass shoe would not be at exactly 12:00 on the shoe If the shift shoe is at 12:00 ,spool should be ok
With the shift cable installed , there should be NO MORE that 2 threads exposed in the gimbal housing
None of the cables are cut to size. if you cut yours you need a new cable
The brass shoe should fit snugly on the splined shaft. a corroded splined shaft will affect the throw.
When all else fails:
shift the lower control cable into fwd while someone turns the prop CCW untill locked
shift the control box into the fwd detent. The foward most travel without adding throttle
attach lower cable plastic sleeve and adjust brass barrel to fit into its notch and install cotter pin.
Adjust control cable plastic barrel to match the stud
test and report

 

[stonyloam]

IF you had the entire outdrive off, IF the control handle moves freely back and forth (F to R) and IF you can reach under and turn the lower shift lever counterclockwise (with the control handle in reverse) it may be that the small roller on the underside of the shift shaft lever is not captured between the two arms of the shift slide on the end of the shift cable. If the roller was in front of the arms the slide would push the lever into forward, but would not be able to pull it back into reverse. Just a guess.

 

[Fordon40]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I will be trying some of them out but discovered a slightly larger issue today after setting my valves. I discovered the #4 cylinder had water in it from a possible manifold leak. Hoping to get that fixed tomorrow and then will report back my findings as far as shifting issues!