96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Well, with 2+ year old, water contaminated fluid, I'll back off my previous statements and say, you could have significant wear and clutch issues. Best of luck to you.

It may have been changed since 2011. I just bought the boat, and have receipts for repairs to the lower end in 2011 so I know it was changed then. I'm not sure the fluid was that bad either, just some white swirls, and no milk at the bottom of the container as seen in the pics.

With the help of someone, I engaged forward while spinning the props, and it does get to a point where it locks and I can't turn the props, just takes half to 3/4 turns before it does, not the instant engagement like reverse.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Unfortunately it does.

^^^

So I am assuming the clutch is toast? Does this make sense?

I know the motor should have been running, but didn't want to where there was no fluid in it and the rear cover was off.

As long as you were turning the props, it's the same concept as the engine turning.

Good luck with it and let us know how it all turns out.

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Well, after determining that the prop was locking in forward, I refilled with new hi po gear oil and cleaned and re-greased the detent ball and springs. Started it up, and it seems to go into forward and reverse really nice. Increases speed with throttle and seems to work fine back and forth from forward and reverse. I also shutdown the boat while in forward, and jumped off the check to see if the prop was locked and it was, so thats good. The only noticeable difference from forward and reverse is the noise......When reverse is selected there is a slight clunk noise, while forward there is none.

All that being said, the boat isn't in the water and there is no resistance on the props. Also, when I look at what I did to fix it........it was really nothing...... other than an oil change and re-grease of the detent ball. So that worries me.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

I understand your concern. But in the meantime, go boating! If it gets worse or breaks in the future, fix it then.

 

[achris]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

... I refilled with new hi po gear oil and .... So that worries me.

What worries ME is the fact that you may not have used the right oil. Was it Quicksilver High Performance Gear Lube?

Chris.......

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

I used the Mercury High Performance Gear Lube which is the same stuff as the Quick Silver....

 

[achris]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

I used the Mercury High Performance Gear Lube which is the same stuff as the Quick Silver....


View attachment 206850

Sure is...

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Sure is...

I just hope it works in the water. It spins great in the driveway, and when shutoff in forward the prop is locked one way- no budging it..........

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Curiosity got the best of me, since I couldn't put the boat in until Saturday, I pulled the drive to get a closer look at the cable end and linkage claws. I was hoping to find rusty or bent parts----nope, everything looked great, clean and oiled. The cable sits about 7/8" off the bell housing when in neutral and if I put resistance on the end of the cable while someone pushes the shifter, it holds up well and doesn't seem to collapse. It also travels well in the housing.

Putting it back together tonight and will try boat in the morning.

 

[huberc]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Just adding my experience with the same issue. In 2011 I purchased a used 2004 Crownline 235CCR 5.0 L bravo 3 drive with 195 hrs. Previous owner had mentioned some minor issue with shifting and believed it to be cable related. Sure enough, the longer I used the boat the worse the delay got. Long story short, I went through pretty much all the mentioned suggestions, oil, cables, linkage, engine RPM, etc. All items checked out to be OK. It got to the point where all the mechanics I consulted said I require a new gear set. Well if it's that bad, I have nothing to loose. I removed the leg, disassembled the upper drive and discovered a very clear difference in the finishes on the gears between forward and reverse. Forward had an almost chrome finish when compared to the reverse gear. I purchased a $7.00 lapping compound kit from local automotive stores and very lightly lapped the forward gear with the clutch to remove the polished finish. I cleaned and reassembled the drive with new oil and I'm happy to report 40 hrs of trouble free boating this 2013 season. I'm not saying this is your issue, but in my search for help I did not find anything on lapping the clutch/gear set.
PS
I did have a marine mechanic have a look at the drive after I had put some hours on it after my repair just for piece of mind and answer a couple questions I had on the brass shifting rings wear patterns, etc. All is good. Maybe this can help someone else.

Curiosity got the best of me, since I couldn't put the boat in until Saturday, I pulled the drive to get a closer look at the cable end and linkage claws. I was hoping to find rusty or bent parts----nope, everything looked great, clean and oiled. The cable sits about 7/8" off the bell housing when in neutral and if I put resistance on the end of the cable while someone pushes the shifter, it holds up well and doesn't seem to collapse. It also travels well in the housing.

Putting it back together tonight and will try boat in the morning.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

I purchased a $7.00 lapping compound kit from local automotive stores and very lightly lapped the forward gear with the clutch to remove the polished finish. I cleaned and reassembled the drive with new oil and I'm happy to report 40 hrs of trouble free boating this 2013 season. I'm not saying this is your issue, but in my search for help I did not find anything on lapping the clutch/gear set.
PS
I did have a marine mechanic have a look at the drive after I had put some hours on it after my repair just for piece of mind and answer a couple questions I had on the brass shifting rings wear patterns, etc. All is good. Maybe this can help someone else.

Thanks Huberc for the informative post, That is good to know.

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Well, the boat wouldn't work in the water. Tried forward and noting proceeded to push lever down farther, rpms increased then bang, it went into gear. Did that twice.

So I took the boat home and took it apart and changed the lower shift cable. Again it works in the driveway so I will try it in the water tonite.

The old cable didn't look too bad, but did sEem to be the original 1996 cable so it was due. Crossing my fingers...

 

[shawnmd]

Re: 96 Bravo III occasionally not engaging forward gear- HELP

Just adding my experience with the same issue. In 2011 I purchased a used 2004 Crownline 235CCR 5.0 L bravo 3 drive with 195 hrs. Previous owner had mentioned some minor issue with shifting and believed it to be cable related. Sure enough, the longer I used the boat the worse the delay got. Long story short, I went through pretty much all the mentioned suggestions, oil, cables, linkage, engine RPM, etc. All items checked out to be OK. It got to the point where all the mechanics I consulted said I require a new gear set. Well if it's that bad, I have nothing to loose. I removed the leg, disassembled the upper drive and discovered a very clear difference in the finishes on the gears between forward and reverse. Forward had an almost chrome finish when compared to the reverse gear. I purchased a $7.00 lapping compound kit from local automotive stores and very lightly lapped the forward gear with the clutch to remove the polished finish. I cleaned and reassembled the drive with new oil and I'm happy to report 40 hrs of trouble free boating this 2013 season. I'm not saying this is your issue, but in my search for help I did not find anything on lapping the clutch/gear set.
PS
I did have a marine mechanic have a look at the drive after I had put some hours on it after my repair just for piece of mind and answer a couple questions I had on the brass shifting rings wear patterns, etc. All is good. Maybe this can help someone else.

Thank you Huberc...I tried the boat in the water tonight, after the new lower cable install and it still wouldn't work. Prop would spin slowly in forward, until you brought idle up to about 1500 and clunk, it would finally fall into gear. Reverse worked fine.

I tried it again and it wouldn't engage, so I shutdown the boat while the lever was in forward, pulled boat home and pulled off the back cover on the drive. To me, the shift lever in the drive was pushed as far as it could be, which tells me it isn't a cable or adjustment problem.

It's either the clutch, or the shifter cam assembly. Do you know how the shifter cam -yoke assembly works? I understand there are ramps on the cam; could those be wore? Or does it look like a clutch issue? My only hesitation with the clutch theory is that when the boat did go in forward, it never slipped at any rpm or speed.