1990 Bayliner w/ alpha one wont go into reverse

[litebeerman]

Hi,I'm new here so would appreciate any help.
mercruiser 5.0 liter
We just finished replaceing the bellows on the outdrive(now I know why they charge so much for it !) anyway, got it all back together and tried it out,and forward works,goes into neutral ok but when I try to go into reverse, it stalls the engine,after a little detective work I found (what I think is the shift cable) on the engine,when shifted into reverse it looks like it causes somthing to hit a "kill " switch ,can anyone tell my how to adjust this or should I take it in to have it done ?

 

[Don S]

Re: 1990 Bayliner w/ alpha one wont go into reverse

It necessary for the linkage to hit the shift interrupt (Kill switch as you called it) in order to get the drive out of gear. Going into gear it shouldn't operate at all. In the process of changing the bellows, did you damage (bend/kink) the cable? If so, that may be causing your problem. It causes the cable to bind when going to reverse, and forward is ok.
It may also be that you got the cable out of adjustment when putting it back together.
Here is a link to the Mercruiser manual (Free) for that drive. Section 2 explains in detail how to adjust it.

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6covr3.pdf

 

[stevieray]

Re: 1990 Bayliner w/ alpha one wont go into reverse

Hey lite - welcome to iboats. Do you know if the lower shift cable has ever been replaced? If it is fairly new, you may be able to adjust (adjustment range is very small). If it is older, you may need to replace it - if it has stretched any thru normal use, you may not be able to get it to work just by adjusting. I have an 88 & had to replace it after 8 years & 16.