Is my lower shift cable toast

[jonny rotten]

1990 Mercruiser 4.3 alpha one
Forward shifts fine, the issue below is for reverse

The slide bolt on the lower shifter bar is as high as it goes.
If I pull the cotter pin and rotate the barrel almost to the end and slide the barrel into the housing it shifts fine for testing...but the barrel wont slide in all the way inside the barrel housing because the crimped nut on the cable hits the barrel housing. If I rotate the barrel back to where the cotter pin fits it stalls.

Does this mean my cable its stretched to the max and need replacing.....it worked fine when I put it away last year but has needed adjusting in the past.
I watched the YouTube videos on adjusting and the measurements I'm wondering if this is a sure sign of replacement being its raised to the top of the adjustment and bottomed out on the barrel...Thanks

 

[kenny nunez]

Pull the drive after shifting into forward. There may be some marine corrosion inside the cavity where the cable travels for reverse. Blow it out and clean it .Disconnect the cable and see how far the cable will travel when pushing it toward the front, corrosion builds up inside the cable slide and is hard to clean out but give it a try. You should be able to move the cable in & out with just 2 fingers. If it takes more than that replace the cable. Look closely in the area between the shift boot and where it is attached to the bell housing for splintering. Also under the engine where it goes through the transom.

 

[jonny rotten]

Ok, I'll check for buildup.
Does the fact that I'm at the high side of the slide bolt on the lower cable and nearing close to bottoming out on the barrel threads tell me the cable is stretched to its end? It shifts smoothly meaning the throttle engages and disengages easily and its not binding up....or could it just be crud built up and needing a slight adjustment?

 

[alldodge]

Adjust your lower shift cable exactly as shown on the vid, and if it still is not correct then replace the cable

 

[jonny rotten]

So I followed the video to a tee. Where I had perfect forward before I lost it completely after the adjustment. I still had no reverse. I played around with sliding the lower shift cable up the lever with no luck.
So I said to myself forward is in on the cable so I adjusted barrels to bring the cable in. I got forward back. It went into reverse but stalled when I gave it gas. The shift interrupter roller wasn't centered. So I left it in reverse and pulled off the upper cable and the SI snapped back to center.I adjusted the barrel to fit with the SI centered. Still in full reverse. I fired it up and everything shifts as it should. I tested a few times with no issue.

I know I'm off with the video measurements but it works. We see what happens when it gets in the water. Both cables were within specs and now the barrel on the lower shift cable that was screwed all the way to the nut on the cable before I started is now "more" centered.

I'm curious why the only adjustments, according to the video, are the slide on the lever and not labeled as just a starting point where if it doesn't work the barrels can be adjusted a little each way to fine tune the shifting?? The threads for the barrels are inches long giving lots of room to adjust besides just the slide on the lever?

 

[alldodge]

On land there will be no issue shifting because there is no load on the prop. The shift interrupter is used to stall the motor so it unloads the prop so it can be shifted out of gear. It goes in gear without issue, its coming out that is the issue on an Alpha drive.

The vid assumes the upper cable is in the correct position to begin. Put throttle in forward position, not WOT just FWD. Remove cable and pull cable slightly to remove slack. Lightly pull on the remote control shift cable end guide (to remove the slack from the remote control and cable) and adjust brass barrel as necessary to align attaching points with shift lever clevis pin hole and stud. Be sure to maintain light pressure on the drive unit shift cable.

Shift FWD then REV and each shift check that the prop locks in

 

[achris]

Pull the drive, check the cavity in the drive and the cavity in the bell housing for crud.

Chris.......