mc-1 outdrive

i am new to boating and have purchased a 79 sea sprite with 470 merc and mc-1 1.81.1 ratio drive. after first run on water i noticed that it wasnt shifting very well so i took it to the local marine shop where they tell me i need a new shift cable. i tell them to go ahead and replace the cable and upon my next encounter on the water i find that motor is killed when shifting to forward gear and there is no reverse gear at all. i then take it to a different repair shop who tells me that the clutch dawg is bad and needs replaced. shop wants 1300$ to do this. so my question becomes where can i get another lower unit for this drive or possibly just get another drive and if so what will fit? drive has tilt/trim as well

Re: mc-1 outdrive

scottstacy1991 said:

i am new to boating and have purchased a 79 sea sprite with 470 merc and mc-1 1.81.1 ratio drive. after first run on water i noticed that it wasnt shifting very well so i took it to the local marine shop where they tell me i need a new shift cable. i tell them to go ahead and replace the cable and upon my next encounter on the water i find that motor is killed when shifting to forward gear and there is no reverse gear at all. i then take it to a different repair shop who tells me that the clutch dawg is bad and needs replaced. shop wants 1300$ to do this. so my question becomes where can i get another lower unit for this drive or possibly just get another drive and if so what will fit? drive has tilt/trim as well

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Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,...

Ya shoulda brought it back to the 1st shop, so they could have determined where they screwed up....

I don't see the diagnosis of yer 2nd Shop,... 'course, I can't see, what they're seein' either...

You can buy a Brand New, complete replacement outdrive, right here at iboats, for another $100. above their estimate to fix yer's...

Re: mc-1 outdrive

I am also new to this forum. Thank you for the reply bondo. Can you guide me to where on I boats site I can find my out drive to purchase. Also I have been told I can bolt in a gen 1 is this true as well and is the a conversion kit I would need to do this

Re: mc-1 outdrive

Start here http://www.boatmotors.com/motorparts/

Re: mc-1 outdrive

scottstacy1991 said:

i tell them to go ahead and replace the cable and upon my next encounter on the water i find that motor is killed when shifting to forward gear and there is no reverse gear at all.

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That sounds like a botched shift cable job to me, might just need to have the cables adjusted to get proper reverse and forward engagement. The cable could have been bent during installation too, causing bind that would cause the engine to die while going into gear. Could be other problems with the shift system,,, binding shift shaft/bushing.

I would remove the lower shift cable from the anchor points and see if the drive shifts into forward and reverse by manually pulling on the cable, this would be with the boat on the trailer, engine running on muffs. Make sure no one or nothing is by the prop, and that it will clear the ground.

(Of course, we are not seeing what the 2nd shop is seeing, so who knows...)

Re: mc-1 outdrive

ok i appoligize for the miss info.. the first shop who did the install of cable also told me upon my return to them that they had something misaligned when putting the drive back on so they fixed that problem which allowed the boat to shift into forward gear but not reverse. under some more timewith them adjusting they were then able to get reverse but no forward. they then re opened the unit and said the clutch dog is bad and is not allowing it to obtain both. i have tried the shift by cable unatached from the ancor points and i get the same result. i should also mention at this point that i had both forward and reverse upon entering the shop the first time but when i came back to nuetral from either it would die. i have since learned that they should have done a simple adjustment on a (interupter switch?) and not changed the cable. however damage is done now and they refuse to do anything about it. they are standing firm that the clutch dog is bad

Re: mc-1 outdrive

scottstacy1991 said:

ok i appoligize for the miss info.. the first shop who did the install of cable also told me upon my return to them that they had something misaligned when putting the drive back on so they fixed that problem which allowed the boat to shift into forward gear but not reverse. under some more timewith them adjusting they were then able to get reverse but no forward. they then re opened the unit and said the clutch dog is bad and is not allowing it to obtain both. i have tried the shift by cable unatached from the ancor points and i get the same result. i should also mention at this point that i had both forward and reverse upon entering the shop the first time but when i came back to nuetral from either it would die. i have since learned that they should have done a simple adjustment on a (interupter switch?) and not changed the cable. however damage is done now and they refuse to do anything about it. they are standing firm that the clutch dog is bad

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Ayuh,.... Sorry yer havin' such a hard time with yer choice of repair shops,...

But,...
It still doesn't sound like the clutch dog is the Issue,....

I'd sooner think they bent something in the shiftin' Linkage....

Yer symptoms Don't match the diagnosis...

Re: mc-1 outdrive

ok i have now found that by reaching up and actually shifting by hand at the shift foot i can get lock into both forward and reverse. when conecting the cable again i shift forward and it locks in then when shifting to reverse again it does not. i then went back the the drive and reach in to the shift foot and i am able to move it approx 1/8 inch and lock in to reverse. any ideas for this? also i may note that i do not see any signs of any bends in the lower cable.

Re: mc-1 outdrive

scottstacy1991 said:

ok i have now found that by reaching up and actually shifting by hand at the shift foot i can get lock into both forward and reverse. when conecting the cable again i shift forward and it locks in then when shifting to reverse again it does not. i then went back the the drive and reach in to the shift foot and i am able to move it approx 1/8 inch and lock in to reverse. any ideas for this? also i may note that i do not see any signs of any bends in the lower cable.

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Ayuh,.... See my post above,....

The next step in yer diagnosis is to Pull the drive, 'n see why the stroke is lackin' that 1/8"....

8 more nuts to remove to find the answer,......