Hey guys,
Have a 91 Mercruiser 3.0 Alpha 1
I will try to explain everything I did this winter than explain what problem I am having to get the whole story out there.
Last winter I had the motor out and the stern drive removed. I had taken the shift cable out from engine to stern drive and put back in when put the engine back in. Also had to disconnect other cables to engine to remove engine. I had no problem until yesterday when I was on the lake. I went to pull up to a dock and could not get it into neutral. It was forward or reverse and because of that I hit the dock hard doing some damage to the boat. As the day went on it would not go into neutral very easy. Had to play with it to find it. Also note, with shifter in neutral position, it does start but it is not always in neutral. It is so little in gear that you cant hardly tell.
Went out to the big lake again and was coming into the channel, went to slow down and it only slowed a little. Handle went into neutral but boat did not slow down. Had my buddy take the wheel while I looked at engine. He hit the shifter again and everything seemed like it was moving fine but would not come out of gear until I told him to slam it in forward than pull back to neutral again. That is when it came out of gear and slowed.
Last year I did replace the lower shift cable so I would think it is not going bad. No metal in gear oil so nothing seems to be tearing the gears up. Also, I did lose a few mph after I put engine back in but that was after a FULL tune up.
So here is my question, could I have not adjusted the cable right when I put it back in, did something go wrong in the gearcase housing for example, clutch dog going bad, or did something some how come undone that I cant see? Can the boat act like this if the cable is off by just a bit?
Any help would be great. Would like to see if I can figure this out before I tear the lower unit apart. Got about 3 weeks before I will be on the water for 5 days straight to get this done.
Have a 91 Mercruiser 3.0 Alpha 1
I will try to explain everything I did this winter than explain what problem I am having to get the whole story out there.
Last winter I had the motor out and the stern drive removed. I had taken the shift cable out from engine to stern drive and put back in when put the engine back in. Also had to disconnect other cables to engine to remove engine. I had no problem until yesterday when I was on the lake. I went to pull up to a dock and could not get it into neutral. It was forward or reverse and because of that I hit the dock hard doing some damage to the boat. As the day went on it would not go into neutral very easy. Had to play with it to find it. Also note, with shifter in neutral position, it does start but it is not always in neutral. It is so little in gear that you cant hardly tell.
Went out to the big lake again and was coming into the channel, went to slow down and it only slowed a little. Handle went into neutral but boat did not slow down. Had my buddy take the wheel while I looked at engine. He hit the shifter again and everything seemed like it was moving fine but would not come out of gear until I told him to slam it in forward than pull back to neutral again. That is when it came out of gear and slowed.
Last year I did replace the lower shift cable so I would think it is not going bad. No metal in gear oil so nothing seems to be tearing the gears up. Also, I did lose a few mph after I put engine back in but that was after a FULL tune up.
So here is my question, could I have not adjusted the cable right when I put it back in, did something go wrong in the gearcase housing for example, clutch dog going bad, or did something some how come undone that I cant see? Can the boat act like this if the cable is off by just a bit?
Any help would be great. Would like to see if I can figure this out before I tear the lower unit apart. Got about 3 weeks before I will be on the water for 5 days straight to get this done.
