New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Hey guys I have a 1968 starcraft starchief with a mercruiser 120 and a pre alpha outdrive. Last fall I replaced all the bellow and the shift cable. I followed the instruction of how to adjust the shift cable from mercstuff.com. I can get the lower unit to go into forward and neutral however when I try to get it adjusted for reverse(while somebody turning the prop clockwise) all I get is a clicking noise from the outdrive. I have pulled the shift cable all the way out and the clicking get a little louder. It seems like it wants to go into gear just not enough slack in the cable to allow it. Reverse gear does work because when I have the outdrive off I made sure that it would go into forward and reverse. Are there any other cable/items that I need to check?
 

Will Fish

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Jul 8, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Are you sure you have the shift lined up when you installed the drive? I had that problem and thought it had to be the cablesince I had forward. The shifter on the drive was slightly bent and was not making complete contact. Also you may have to adjust the cable more, sometimes a full turn or 2. Once you get reverse check forward again. You may also have to adjust it once in water and under load
 

Don S

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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Tilt the drive up and look at the shift shafts. They should look like those in the picture below.
 

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CharlieB

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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Which shift cable did you replace?

Is it safe to assume that you replaced the Intermediate shift cable from the motor to the outdrive?

How old is the Primary shift cable from the Control box to the motor?

Shift the Control into Reverse, carefully disconnect the primary shift cable and see if the linkage can be manually moved any farther to shift and lock into Reverse.
 

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

I replaced the shift cable from the motor to the outdrive. I dont think that it is the control cable because when I was adjusting the cable I had it out of the bracket and pushing and pulling by hand.

Don I was looking at it last night and that is what it looks like. I had my wife go from forward to neutral to reverse as I laid there watching it. It moved good, I just dont think it move far enough but I dont know.
 

JerryIrons

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May 27, 2010
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

At the engine, can you disconnnect the barrel and shift it there by hand with good results? (push and pull cable and check propellor clicking) If it doesn't work like that there is no hope for adjusting the barrel

I was able to get mine running 2 years ago by doing it a little backwards. I adjusted it so that reverse worked first, and then I tweaked the barrel until it worked in forward. I'm pretty sure I have a warn shift spool inside the outdrive, the result being it won't go into reverse unless the shift shoe is pushed all the way to the degrees for reverse.
 

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Ok pulled the lower unit to make sure still have reverse and I do. Before I did that the shift coupler looked like the picture. Do I need to remove the upper to make sure everything is good there or what else should I check? Kinda lost now
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
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May 19, 2004
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27,468
Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Disconnect the lower shift cable from the shift plate. While you push the cable in, have another person turn the prop gently counter-clockwise until it locks. Have that person apply quite a bit of force (still counter-clockwise) to hold the dog clutch in place, while you, inside the boat, mark the position of the black slide on the cable. Now GENTLY pull the cable until it stops. Only pull gently or you will pull the drive out of gear. Measure how far you were able to pull the slide. It should be less than 9/16" (14mm). If it is less, then you have a problem elsewhere, more than 9/16", you have wear and slop in the shift system between the top of that cable and the dog clutch....

Chris........
 

Bt Doctur

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Aug 29, 2004
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Get a link for the manual to understand the next statement.
there is a part called a shift spool. when badly worn you will lose reverse using the cable but may still bve able to get reverse by hand.
there is a test procedure and cardboard template to check the shift spool total travel.if excessive travel is present ,the lower unit needs to be opened for repair.
 

ziggy

Admiral
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Jun 30, 2004
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7,473
Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

did ya adj. any of the control cables at all?
so it shifts fine when operated by the replaced cable from inside the boat?

the pic is in neutral.

with the upper and lower together it shifts fine on the bench?

the coupler looks like the pic. the way the two halves are mated? no space in between the male and female couplers?

imho, trace it backwards. shift the lower on the bench and confirm shift, then mate the upper and lower and confirm shift. then put the drive back on and operate by the new cable from inside the boat and confirm shift.

imho, if ya touched or adjusted the remote cables, this too will need to be adj. by the book, exactly the way it states to do it in the book. 12 or so steps involved. not 3 or 4 steps to adj. like the lower cable is.
if ya adjusted the remote cables?

ya got good help here. listen to what others are saying. some of them have helped me a lot...
 

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Ziggy good idea with the lower off I will take theupper of next and mate them to see if shifting is correct then go from there. And no I did nor adjust the cable from the control box
 

JerryIrons

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May 27, 2010
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

I went through the same learning this, gets a little confusing but once you grasp how it all works together it will make sense. What I also did to help troubleshoot was actually using my finger to push the shift shoe inside of the shift bracket a little to see if that affected things, and it did. The cable just needed to get a little more tension. I was amazed at how just a hair of movement means the difference between going in reverse or staying in neutral.
 

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Here is a picture of the shift bracket in forward.
shift bracket.jpg
 

JerryIrons

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May 27, 2010
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Another thing to check is play in that bracket. I can't tell from the picture how yours is. So if the bracket turns, but the shift shoe doesn't that can affect things as well. You can help that by sqeezing the bracket U so that it is more narrow. (pliers, vice, etc) That helped me as well, the first time I did all of this and didn't realize that things had to be in forward when you put it back together...don't ask...How does it shift now like it is?
 

spinalcracker

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Jun 22, 2011
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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

Well I was at it this weekend and found that if I pushed up a fraction of an inch on the shift shoe from lower unit it goes into reverse. So happy to finally figure this out. Thanks for all you help guys.
 

Don S

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Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

I can tell, even in the small blurry picture, that the upper shift shaft in the bellhousing is all bent up. Possibly from trying to put the drive on without the throttle in forward?
 

JerryIrons

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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May 27, 2010
Messages
125
Re: New shift cable adjusted and still no reverse????

If you replace those parts (shoe and bracket) I would really recommend mercury. Even the used ones that I bought had a nice tight fit compared to new off-brand stuff.
 
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