1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

[biebs53]

My dad's got a 1990 Cobalt 21.5 Mercruiser 5.7L w/ Alpha One outdrive. Having problems again with it stalling out when going in and out of gear. Fires right up after sitting all winter but out of 10 or 15 times going into forward gear (neutral and prop spinning) it only went in twice. Never in reverse. Had a similar problem last year and had both cables replaced. Do they red to be replaced again or adjusted? It was stored with outdrive down. Please let me know what to do/check or guide me to the right thread or write up. Worked on automobiles all my life, never boats though but if i have the right info/parts i'll get it fixed.

Thanks

 

[cr2k]

Re: 1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

Sounds like they may need to be adjusted.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

Probably adjusted too far one direction. Instead of blindly adjusting things, might help if you start from scratch and go through the adjustments of both cables. here is how.


View attachment A1 Shift Cable Adjust.pdf

 

[biebs53]

Re: 1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

Thanks guys. I readjusted the lower shift cable and it went into forward gear perfect every time but died instantly in reverse gear. I then readjusted both cables following this video, very helpful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s_tgevX2aI

Now it goes into reverse gear about 50% of the time and dies the other times. Also, in forward gear, the prop makes a clicking sound, seems like the gears aren't catching? Also, i have yet to adjust the anchor pin on the lower cable. Looks like it is right in the middle with about 1/2" adjustment each way. Any other suggestions besides keep adjusting it til i get it right? I know i'll get it going good this weekend but any advice would greatly cut down my time spent on it. Thanks

 

[Badfish210]

Re: 1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

It sounds like the shift cable might be binding up. Trace it back and make sure that it does not have any extreme bends. I would also check to make sure the shift interrupter is not binding up, maybe give it a little lube in that area.

 

[biebs53]

Re: 1990 Mercruiser 5.7L and Alpha One Stalling In and Out of Gear

ALright i got everything readjusted. Goes in and out of forward gear pretty good. Seems like it l=takes a little more forward motion of the throttle to get it into gear but i can deal with it. Goes into reverse without stalling every time now, which is good. But the prop "clicks" while in reverse. This is the best adjustment i've done so far so i don't want to lose it. Any idea which adjustment i need to make? My first ones i wasn't doing correctly. The anchor pin for the lower cable was in the middle and i moved it to the bottom. Also on my first adjustments i wasn't pushing the lower cable completely into gear so the prop was still spinning free.

Thanks for the help, i know i'm a boat noob