82 suzuki dt115 reverse not working correctly

[bmc02]

hi guys. new to boating. just bought my first one, an 81 glastron 16' open bow with a suzuki dt115. the motor runs good, it shifts into forward gear nicely. pops in pretty easy and works well up to full throttle. the problem i am having is with reverse. as i begin to bring the control back from neutral it starts to grind pretty good and then if i am brave enough to keep going the motor will begin to bounce off the trim cylinders as it pops in and out of gear. its pretty loud (and embarassing) with the gears grinding and the motor bouncing. i have changed the gear oil, old oil was black but not milky and no signs of metal shavings. the control cables are looking pretty bad, cracked housing and have a relatively sharp bend at one point near the motor. so thats one area i know i need to look at and plan on replacing. beyond that it would have to be something in the gear housing. not sure where to look though. seems like a clutch issue most likely. i'm a good mechanic with cars but totally new to boats so i could use some help. thanks.

 

[stylesabu]

Re: 82 suzuki dt115 reverse not working correctly

does it shift into reverse with engine off? there isn't any clutch.the shift fork is called a clutch dog, its a gear. get a manual they are very helpful, Im an ase master tech,you will find boats aren't much different but my manual made a world of differance

 

[gbak]

Re: 82 suzuki dt115 reverse not working correctly

Check the gear cable adjustment first as it is easy to do, if the adjustment is bad the clutch dog doesnt bottom and will loose engagement to the gear.

A worn clutch dog and/or gear or a worn puchrod (all inside the gear housing) can also make the clutch dog to loose it's engagement.
To check this the gear housing have to be disassembled, you need good skills/tools to do this.
This is a common fault, if the gears pops in/out under load, and will also ruin the gears.

Here is a worn out gear,
The small radius/chamfers on the three edges makes the clutch dog to loose it's grip:

 

[bmc02]

Re: 82 suzuki dt115 reverse not working correctly

thanks for the replies. being the old control cables were looking pretty bad i ended up replacing both of them to begin with. luckily that solved the problem. it still grinds slightly when shifting into reverse, but i think that is to be expected on an older boat like mine. it does stay in gear now and doesn't bounce off the trim cylinders like it did before.