78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

[BigBassin78]

My controls have recently and sporadically gotten harder to shift forward. Now, today it was one of those days that it was harder, and when I went to shift it forward, it felt like something slipped and now it will not come out of forward. I took it apart and could not see what was causing the problem. I put it back together in neutral and proceeded to shift it into forward and the same result, it will not come out of forward.

I have read that others have had this problem, however they chose not to fix it and buy new controls. I would rather buy a $30 part than $250 for a set of controls when %95 of this control is good. Has anyone fixed this problem, how so, what part do I need to replace???

Thank you so much to all those that cruise this forum and help guys like me out.!.!.!.!.!

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

When you pull your control box apart, you can check the internal moving parts against the factory exploded parts diagram: epc.brp.com. I'd disconnect the two cables in the box first-to make sure they are not the problem.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: 78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

Disconnect the shift cable from the engine and test.
Might just be a cable failure.

 

[atlapp]

Re: 78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

Spend an hour taking control box apart and clean out old grease...regrease with good marine grease..you will be amazed at how smooth it will work...I agree it could be a siezed cable

 

[atlapp]

Re: 78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

forgot to mention on some cables you can remove ends put in drill motor...spin drill while spraying some sort of lube wd-40 etc...this will free up alot of cables!

 

[BigBassin78]

Re: 78 pilot controls locked in forward, will not come back into neutral.

This is not a cable failure, I should have mentioned that I isolated it to the control box. I have discovered the answer to this common issue with these controls, mid to late 70's power pilot controls. Through a little closer look and some reading in my SELOC, I found the issue. When I felt that "slip" it was this thing called the shift lever assembly. It has two teeth that index with the metal cam that has two similar looking teeth. This SHIFT LEVER ASSY teeth section is made of plastic of course(so we can buy new parts for years and years to come). It is worn and is slipping past the point it should and once it does it cant move back. This part is about $35. Part# 386542