I'm out of ideas on adjusting this shift cable. I have been working on a 1985 Lund Tyee 5.5 with the 140/3.0L Mercruiser, serial # for the drive is shown below. I took the drive unit off to replace a bad seal on the driveshaft that was letting oil into the u-joint bellows and bilge. Resealed everything in the upper housing and passed the pressure tests. I replaced the impeller and upper impeller housing and seals, but didn't touch anything else in the lower housing since it pressure tested fine. I took the gimbal housing off to clean it up and replace the bellows, and had to cut the old shift cable to get it out since it was the reinforcement tube style. It did thread in from the aft end of the gimbal housing though so I didn't have to drill and tap anything.
I replaced the lower shift cable with a new style cable from a kit, picture of that below also. The description says it works for the Gen 1, Gen 2, MR & MC-1 drives 1978 and newer. When I reinstall the drive and have it shifted into forward gear with tension on the prop in the CCW direction, I can't adjust the brass barrel to 6" from the center of the eye because it hits the lock nut. The closest I can get is about 5 3/4". Why would that be?
I've taken the drive back off multiple times, and split the upper and lower and reassembled it to make sure the shift shaft isn't off by a spline. Same exact measurement when I reinstalled everything though, still short of the 6". Pushing and pulling on the cable without it attached to the linkage, I can shift it far enough to lock the prop in place for both forward and reverse. So I gave it a try just to see and, predictably, I can't adjust the control cable to a point where it will shift into both forward and reverse.
The control cable is also a different style than I see in most of the instructions, there is no brass barrel to turn and adjust. The plastic eye end threads onto the shaft to adjust the length.
I got a ton of good info here when I was rebuilding the driveshaft assembly and housing, so I am hoping there is something obvious that the brains here can pick up on and make me stop banging my head on the workbench!
Serial #
Cable kit
This is where the splined shaft in the lower unit stopped in full forward with CCW tension on the prop. Should it stop with a spline straight forward/back?
Shift linkage just before I slipped the drive assembly back on
Here's where I end up with the measurement on the new cable. No way that barrel will get to 6" with the cable pushed all the way in.
Overall of the shift assembly
I replaced the lower shift cable with a new style cable from a kit, picture of that below also. The description says it works for the Gen 1, Gen 2, MR & MC-1 drives 1978 and newer. When I reinstall the drive and have it shifted into forward gear with tension on the prop in the CCW direction, I can't adjust the brass barrel to 6" from the center of the eye because it hits the lock nut. The closest I can get is about 5 3/4". Why would that be?
I've taken the drive back off multiple times, and split the upper and lower and reassembled it to make sure the shift shaft isn't off by a spline. Same exact measurement when I reinstalled everything though, still short of the 6". Pushing and pulling on the cable without it attached to the linkage, I can shift it far enough to lock the prop in place for both forward and reverse. So I gave it a try just to see and, predictably, I can't adjust the control cable to a point where it will shift into both forward and reverse.
The control cable is also a different style than I see in most of the instructions, there is no brass barrel to turn and adjust. The plastic eye end threads onto the shaft to adjust the length.
I got a ton of good info here when I was rebuilding the driveshaft assembly and housing, so I am hoping there is something obvious that the brains here can pick up on and make me stop banging my head on the workbench!
Serial #
Cable kit
This is where the splined shaft in the lower unit stopped in full forward with CCW tension on the prop. Should it stop with a spline straight forward/back?
Shift linkage just before I slipped the drive assembly back on
Here's where I end up with the measurement on the new cable. No way that barrel will get to 6" with the cable pushed all the way in.
Overall of the shift assembly
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