Mercruiser Shift Issues

[SouthCarolina1]

Working on a buddies 1996 mercruiser with an alpha one drive. The issue is the spring lever that moves up and down (see second picture) to engage the shift cutoff switch is not moving when shifting. I can move it up and down manually. A shop replaced the shift cable and I replaced the shift cutoff switch. I have verified the shift cable settings per the manual. Today I pulled the outdrive off. Outdrive removed the shift cable is butter smooth. The tab that actually shifts the gear on the lower unit (see first picture) requires a lot of pressure to spin. Im used to it being very easy to spin. I think the lower unit might be bad. Thoughts?

 

[SouthCarolina1]

Drained the oil and found the magnet loaded up, discolored oil with shinny specs

 

[nola mike]

Magnet doesn't look bad. That looks like water in the oil. Shouldn't take much effort to shift, next step is probably pressure test and separate the drive

 

[Scott06]

Drained the oil and found the magnet loaded up, discolored oil with shinny specs

That's pretty normal for an alpha although it looks like the oil wasn't frequently changed as that would be about 3 seasons of shavings on mine. Do they change the oil seasonally or not shift in gear quickly ?

Agree the milk is from moisture in the oil would pressure test it.

It should only engage the shift cut off when coming out of gear in the water on land there is not enough back pressure on prop to trip the shift cut off, and it shouldn't trip going into gear. Butter smooth with a new cable is what you want.

 

[SouthCarolina1]

That's pretty normal for an alpha although it looks like the oil wasn't frequently changed as that would be about 3 seasons of shavings on mine. Do they change the oil seasonally or not shift in gear quickly ?

Agree the milk is from moisture in the oil would pressure test it.

It should only engage the shift cut off when coming out of gear in the water on land there is not enough back pressure on prop to trip the shift cut off, and it shouldn't trip going into gear. Butter smooth with a new cable is what you want.

That shift arm I have circled in red is super hard to turn. Going for a test ride this afternoon and ill report back. Both shift cables have been installed step by step per the manual.

 

[Scott06]

That shift arm I have circled in red is super hard to turn. Going for a test ride this afternoon and ill report back. Both shift cables have been installed step by step per the manual.

That is odd because any drag down there from shift cable, swivel shaft, or shift lever would make it more likely to trip the shift interrupt mechanism. If you can shift it without engaging the interrupt would think you are ok. when I did my bellows last year I replaced the bushing in the bell housing for the shift swivel shaft and mistakenly left it a little proud of the casting it sits in. That created enough drag that the shift didnt work and tripped the cutoff ...

It is possibly if there was water in the oil there is some corrosion on components.

 

[Bondo]

That shift arm I have circled in red is super hard to turn. Going for a test ride this afternoon and ill report back. Both shift cables have been installed step by step per the manual.

Ayuh,.... Were you turning the prop shaft,..??

 

[Bt Doctur]

Being a GEN II that shiftshaft should be butter easy to rotate

 

[ROY WILLIAMS]

the outdrive is leaking, inside that oil is the water ... used the air pressure 7-10 psi ..then spray the soap of that outdrive air pressure .
also the oil plug is the metal pieces of the magnetic ...
then the shift adjustment cables and the throttle cable .

 

[SouthCarolina1]

The V spring that keeps lever centered, I took it off and bent slightly closer together. It takes less force for the shifting to engage the shift cutoff switch. It now works good. I know this isnt the right way and that lower unit is probably otw out but hey, it works!

 

[nola mike]

The V spring that keeps lever centered, I took it off and bent slightly closer together. It takes less force for the shifting to engage the shift cutoff switch. It now works good. I know this isnt the right way and that lower unit is probably otw out but hey, it

Glad it's working, although that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If you made that switch easier to trip, and it's still hard to shift by hand that would make the problem worse. Either way, pressure testing the drive and fixing the leak is an easy way to potentially keep you from having to replace the drive at all.

 

[ROY WILLIAMS]

The V spring that keeps lever centered, I took it off and bent slightly closer together. It takes less force for the shifting to engage the shift cutoff switch. It now works good. I know this isnt the right way and that lower unit is probably otw out but hey, it works!

the V spring lever is stronger ....the lube of that spring lever and the switch is a lube grease dow 4 electrical ..
also the shift cable is of the YouTube lubing the oil ...