Alpha One Shift Adjustment

[Marc G.]

Adjusted my cables. Placed in gear manually, locked prop, 1/8" play in lower cable. Measured 6" b/t barrel center and pin. Placed back on shift plate. Remote cable has 3 and 1/8" distance b/t full forward and full reverse. Spun plastic barrel to exact fit the 4 turns away from cable.
Boat is out of the water.
Gears engage with motor off. When started, no engagement.
Lower unit dog ears?
Thanks guys!

 

[kirkll]

Did you check how smooth the lower shift cable works before doing you adjustments? If it’s stiff and hard to shift just using two fingers you lower shift cable either needs to be replaced, or lubed….

I just went through the same thing with mine, and those cable tolerances sound good, but that 6” measurement plus 4 turns isn’t written in stone. Mine ended up being almost 6 1/2” before it went into both forward and reverse. I just played with it while I was on the water going back and forth until it worked. Kirk

 

[Marc G.]

Thanks Kirk, the cable is a little stiff. I'll lube it. I've put the pin in the lowest slot and in the middle, nothing.

I've heard in or out the water is an issue? Trying to wrap my head around that.

My port engine engages fine out of the water. This one used to.

 

[kirkll]

Thanks Kirk, the cable is a little stiff. I'll lube it. I've put the pin in the lowest slot and in the middle, nothing.

I've heard in or out the water is an issue? Trying to wrap my head around that.

My port engine engages fine out of the water. This one used to.

Are you running the motor with ear muffs while you adjust this? Or just with the motor off?

It does make a difference adjusting cables being in the water with the prop under a load. I set mine at factory specs and ran muffs while the engine was running and it needed adjustment. Went into reverse just fine, but not forward. Then I went too far, and it would go into forward, but not reverse…then I found middle ground where it shifted ok, then headed for the boat ramp… once in the water I found it shifted into forward and reverse ok, but bringing it back into neutral position from the forward position, it was still in gear. That required adjusting the shift linkage, not the lower shift cable…. I messed with it for an hour or so going back and forth just getting a feel for it, before I called it good…. You’ll get it eventually if you put the time in.