docimastic
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
- Messages
- 37
First, I want to say THANKS for all of the great info I've gotten from the members of this site! AWESOME!
Recently purchased for cheap a 1988 Bayliner with a 125 Force. Got it running on all 4 cylinders... a combination of defective CDI units and some defective wire to spade terminals on the ignition terminal block.
When we took the boat out, it would go into F /N / R but could give hardly any throttle in reverse. OK, could live with that... just had to be careful. BUT the last time out, after a couple of hours, it would not go into forward unless we quickly gave it full throttle... it would pop into F (fortunately before the engine had revved more than a tad... no violent engagement). I first checked the cable connection on the Morse type single lever control, and all looks good; no play or slop to speak of.
I then decided to check / set the shift linkage adjustment per instructions in factory shop manual and owner's manual (I have both! LOL) by marking the lower shift shaft first in full down / F positions, then full up / R position, and making a mark half way between those two marks... representing the middle shift rod travel ("mechanical neutral") and discovered that the Shift Arm Tab (Interlock Arm) - the piece attached to the upper **** rod - was sitting about 1/8" below the Tower Shaft Tab, instead of being aligned as they should be.
That explains why we could only give a little throttle in reverse. The tabs were hitting when in reverse. So, now my problem... After much PB blaster and putting the engine in reverse to raise the shift shaft to gain better access to the top adjusting nut, I was able to loosen / unscrew the upper adjusting nut of the shift arm tab. I can get an open end wrench on the lower adjusting nut, but can't budge it, despite much PB Blaster over a couple of days. I don't know if the nut (which is rusty) is rusted to the shaft (I have tried to turn it both ways) or if the aluminum shift arm tab is "locked" onto the shaft due to aluminum corrosion... or both.
I cannot get a straight shot at the lower adjusting nut... If I could take off the air intake baffle, my access to the nut would be better. But I can't get to the starboard rear air baffle bolt because of the shifter mechanism, and can't see how to remove that assembly. I have looked at quite a few pictures on Ebay of remove shift assemblies... but still can't figure it out.
Any help on that would be appreciated.... And, also.....
In Aug 2015 Frank Acampora talked of adjusting the linkage by spinning the lower shift shaft counterclockwise, starting with one turn (to raise the upper shift shaft.) https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...tboards/10013658-88-force-85-hp-shift-linkage . Thinking abut using this as a workaround to the above issues.
First, is the lower shaft supposed to spin fairly freely? When I was getting the holes lined up for the cotter pin (not an easy task!) the lower shift shaft sure didn't spin... at least, not easily. Second, and more importantly, the lower shift shaft has 1/2 inch of threads at the bottom, where it screws into the shift coupling. I am real leary about unscrewing the lower shaft 1/8 of an inch to use that method to line up the tower and shift arm tabs.
Again, any thoughts / comments / wuggestions will be much appreciated.
PS: Sorry this is so long...but I wanted it to be complete and accurate, and hopefully, clear.to understand.
David
Recently purchased for cheap a 1988 Bayliner with a 125 Force. Got it running on all 4 cylinders... a combination of defective CDI units and some defective wire to spade terminals on the ignition terminal block.
When we took the boat out, it would go into F /N / R but could give hardly any throttle in reverse. OK, could live with that... just had to be careful. BUT the last time out, after a couple of hours, it would not go into forward unless we quickly gave it full throttle... it would pop into F (fortunately before the engine had revved more than a tad... no violent engagement). I first checked the cable connection on the Morse type single lever control, and all looks good; no play or slop to speak of.
I then decided to check / set the shift linkage adjustment per instructions in factory shop manual and owner's manual (I have both! LOL) by marking the lower shift shaft first in full down / F positions, then full up / R position, and making a mark half way between those two marks... representing the middle shift rod travel ("mechanical neutral") and discovered that the Shift Arm Tab (Interlock Arm) - the piece attached to the upper **** rod - was sitting about 1/8" below the Tower Shaft Tab, instead of being aligned as they should be.
That explains why we could only give a little throttle in reverse. The tabs were hitting when in reverse. So, now my problem... After much PB blaster and putting the engine in reverse to raise the shift shaft to gain better access to the top adjusting nut, I was able to loosen / unscrew the upper adjusting nut of the shift arm tab. I can get an open end wrench on the lower adjusting nut, but can't budge it, despite much PB Blaster over a couple of days. I don't know if the nut (which is rusty) is rusted to the shaft (I have tried to turn it both ways) or if the aluminum shift arm tab is "locked" onto the shaft due to aluminum corrosion... or both.
I cannot get a straight shot at the lower adjusting nut... If I could take off the air intake baffle, my access to the nut would be better. But I can't get to the starboard rear air baffle bolt because of the shifter mechanism, and can't see how to remove that assembly. I have looked at quite a few pictures on Ebay of remove shift assemblies... but still can't figure it out.
Any help on that would be appreciated.... And, also.....
In Aug 2015 Frank Acampora talked of adjusting the linkage by spinning the lower shift shaft counterclockwise, starting with one turn (to raise the upper shift shaft.) https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...tboards/10013658-88-force-85-hp-shift-linkage . Thinking abut using this as a workaround to the above issues.
First, is the lower shaft supposed to spin fairly freely? When I was getting the holes lined up for the cotter pin (not an easy task!) the lower shift shaft sure didn't spin... at least, not easily. Second, and more importantly, the lower shift shaft has 1/2 inch of threads at the bottom, where it screws into the shift coupling. I am real leary about unscrewing the lower shaft 1/8 of an inch to use that method to line up the tower and shift arm tabs.
Again, any thoughts / comments / wuggestions will be much appreciated.
PS: Sorry this is so long...but I wanted it to be complete and accurate, and hopefully, clear.to understand.
David