Guess what it was?

Don and Rodbolt are disqualified from answering this! <br /><br />1997 Chaparral 2135 with a 5.7LX EFI GEN + Bravo 3. Winterized by me. Outdrive removed to grease u-joints, change oil, change annodes, and repaint.<br /><br />Put it in the water (by myself), tied it to the fuel dock, parked truck/trailer.<br />Came back, started boat. Pushed away, put it in gear & made hard left hand turn to go towards my slip. Decided that I was going a little too fast (cold idle & 26" props make for high idle speed). Pull back on lever, to neutral and...<br />Nothing happened, boat kept going forward in gear. Tried reverse, and it just went faster in forward. So in order to slow down, I had to turn off the engine. Then if I wanted to go forward again, I had to restart the engine... in gear! Let me tell ya, hard to pull into a 12' wide slip with no reverse!<br /><br />So, all my fellows boaters do you know what the problem was? And here's a hint it was my stupidity?

Re: Guess what it was?

Oh come on, let me guess.<br />I've missed it enough times myself to know the symptoms and how easy it's missed.<br />Never test shifted it on muffs before going to the water did ya <br /><br />Sorry, just had to rub it in.

Re: Guess what it was?

D***n it Don, you sound like my dad! No I didn't test shift it on the muffs, cause I hadn't re-installed the props yet. Every other time I have pulled the drive, I have test shifted! 4th time was a charm!

Re: Guess what it was?

My guess is a busted or fryed lower shift cable.

Re: Guess what it was?

not a "busted or fried lower shift cable"<br /><br />(but you're really warm)

Re: Guess what it was?

Guys (and gals) I am really sorry, I just looked at the time, and I have to leave. Which means I can't check back here until 7am CDT tomorrow. So keep guessing if you want. I'll tell you exactly what it was & what happened tomorrow morning <br /><br />Don, if they get real mad that I bailed, you can tell them.

Re: Guess what it was?

littlr pin in shift cable not installed?

Re: Guess what it was?

Defective drive instalation. Shifter cable to drive connection is faulty.

Re: Guess what it was?

If any of you have ever had a Bravo series drive off, it's different than an Alpha.<br />You leave the control handle in neutral. You unbolt the drive & as you are pulling it off, the shifter cable from the transom actually pulls out the cable in the drive, shifting the drive into reverse. This allows you to spin the prop(s) to align the shaft with the coupler upon reinstallation.<br />Well, when you put the drive back on, you have to make sure that the cable from the transom fits inside the "jaws" of the cable in the drive. Well, I reinstalled my drive at DUSK, and didn't notice that the "jaws" were closed. So when I installed the drive, the cable pushed it into neutral. Then when shifting into forward, it pushed into forward. But then, when pulling the lever out of gear, viola, the cable wasn't in the jaws, so it had nothing to pull against, and the drive was stuck in forward!<br />So, I had to dock with forward only (this required a paddle) and load it back on the trailer. Pulled it out, removed the drive. Pulled the cable out of the drive with needle nosed pliers, and then watched the transom cable go into the jaws of the outdrive cable! Amazing how well it works now!

Re: Guess what it was?

And real lucky for me, i didn't damage the end of the cable coming from the transom! Whew!

Re: Guess what it was?

yep<br /> fun aint it. so far I havent done it. have seen it done years ago by another tech. seems though when the customer panicked he jammed the throttles even harder in reverse. the collision cost almost 30K to repair.<br /> in his blind panic to keep his boat scratch free he rammed 3 others and tore up some dock pilings.<br /> was rather funny once all the fiberglass dust settled. all I could do was smile and be happy my initials were no where on the workorder.<br />insurance is a wonderful thing

Re: Guess what it was?

rodbolt, considering I work for the company that insures my boat, it would not have been wonderful for me!<br /><br />I too tried reverse, and it only sped up, so I knew that wasn't going to help!

Re: Guess what it was?

What did I win? Maybe an, unhooked part--ing gift??

Re: Guess what it was?

reelpoor<br /> ya won 1 pint of white gelcoat and a tube of hardner

Re: Guess what it was?

Great gift. <br />Believe it or not I just bought a qt today. I had a tree limb take my masthead light, bracket, and a little glass and gelcoat off my radar arch yesterday evening. <br />Please, also send Instructor to demonstrate proper application of above mentioned items..

Re: Guess what it was?

Believe it or not I just bought a qt today. I had a tree limb take my masthead light, bracket, and a little glass and gelcoat off my radar arch yesterday evening

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Bummer, sorry to hear that! <br /><br />

What did I win? Maybe an, unhooked part--ing gift??

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Well, until you added that little barb, I was going to say you win my admiration, but NOW I am saying you win my forgiveness!<br /><br />But seriously folks, anyone who removes a Bravo drive, pay CLOSE attention to those cables when you re-install it. It was just inconveinent for me, (and embarassing!) but it could be dangerous (see above).