[phil3]

I live in s.e. florida, I have this engine that no one seems to be able to help me with.It seems that the problem is in the shifting cables. The shift won't go into gear.I have had the cables changes twice, please help me the fish are biting and i can't enjoy my boat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Walter]

Phil...It sure seems to me that a reputable marine mechanic outta be able to help you out. Who are you purchasing these cables from? What I know about Yamaha stern drives is less than zilch...although I understand they are known for a velvet smooth shift. Perhaps if you describe in more detail what you are having problems with, someone experienced with this unit can help you out. Hang in there, bud!! Walt

[phil3]

Walt:Thanks for your answer but in the past the so called reputable dealers replaced the cables and now they tell us this engine is obsolete and no one here in Fla will work on this engine Thank you anyway! Does anyone out there have this yamaha stern drive engine? If you do please reply. help!!!!!!!!!!

[Walter]

Well Phil... I just talked to my "go to" marine mechanic buddy...and he wasn't even aware Yamaha made a stern drive unit. Yikes!!I don't know what to suggest at this point. You'd think Florida (being nearly surrounded by water) would be the ONE place in the US where someone would be familiar with this product. Who'd you purchase this boat from? If a dealer, perhaps you could lean on them a bit for some assistance. I know how that goes though....If everything else fails, get yourself a copy of "Trailer Boats" magazine and write to their editor. These guys have been in the business for 30 years and although this column isn't intended to plug any one product or service...I think as a last resort you might give it a shot. I'm sure they have contacts that most of us don't. Hope things work out for ya... Walt

[evin300]

When in doubt Ask Jeeves! just type ask.com into your browser, here are a couple of results: http://www.yamahausa.com/dealers/lookup.asp?err=9&prod= http://pwp.value.net/mobilemarine/about.html

[evin300]

http://www.seilermarine.com/obr/yama...sterndrive.htm undoubtedly some people work on these sterndrives, but you may have to ship it in the worst scenario.

[phil3]

EvinYou have been most helpful, unfortunately we live near the ft. lauderdale area and believe it or not there is not one dealer or certified repair shop that will touch the yamaha stern drives anymor. I called yamaha and they just about said "thats the way it is, sorry,". can't get past the b.s. of the person in customer service. Seiler marine sounds o.k. but like you said how do we get it there, and which part do we need? I am going to call them tho and ask jeeves also. Thanks for taking the time for me.Phil

[phil3]

Walt: we will have to purchase a copy of trailer boats and talk to them. Yamaha has been pretty sarcastic about their discontinued stern drives as well. oh well we will have to fish in the pond thanksPhil

[page62]

Phil,Go with the letter to Trailer Boats magazine, and make sure you copy the president of Yamaha USA. They may have stopped making stern drives, but they still want to sell outboards to people, so they should rush to fix any negative publicity.By the way, you can tell them that with an attitude like that there's at least one other person (me) that would avoid buying ANY Yamaha product!

[evin300]

I hear ya page, Gee, I wonder if this will be how they treat their outboard customers if they dicontinue a line.

[wingnit]

I know this really has no relevance to boats, but I have a friend who has a 1989 Yamaha Venture Royale motorcycle. They stopped making the Royale in 95 or 96 I believe. Anyway ...trying to get parts for this thing is like pulling teeth. He has waited as long as seven months for parts that are on backorder. Dealer told him that Yamaha will not produce a part until they have enough of them on order to warrant making them. He complained to Yamaha and they told him (in a nice way) too bad, that is how we do our parts on older bikes. Does not surprise me that they don't want to help with your problem. I wish you luck

[evin300]

phil, can you purchase a manual for this? Preferably the actual Yamaha one. There will be a procedure for checking and adjusting the cables, maybe this isnt a very big problem and can be fixed easily. The factory manuals are excellent! But any manual would help right now.

[phil3]

evinthanks again, we have tried so far unsucessfully to get a manual for our headache, they have everyone but Yamaha stern drivePhil

[DanMcK]

Take a look at this link http://www.motocom.com/evinrude.html#Yamaha Yamaha2-225 hp 2-Stroke Outboards (1984-1989) B783Features 480 illustrated pages.2-250 hp 2-Stroke Outboards (1990-1995) B784Features 720 illustrated pages.Stern Drives (1989-1991) B787Features 480 illustrated pages.2-250 hp 2-Stroke Outboards (includes Jet Drives, 1996-1998) B785