Commander 3000 stuck in neutral

[Mischief Managed]

Encountered a weird problem over the weekend. Went to put the boat in gear to leave the dock and the shift was locked into neutral. Not just more stiff, literally locked solidly in the full upright position as though the red shift lock lever was failing to disengage. Prior to this, it has operated flawlessly for the 14 years I have owned the boat. I was able to get it to work by pushing and pulling the shift lever sideways.

Facts:

1. 7.4 MPI Bravo 3

2. The problem was NOT caused by the red shifter lock lever, it works smoothly and the bottom of it comes completely out of the slot.

3. The throttle-only button allows the shifter to move normally.

4. All the shift and throttle cables are in perfect working order and slide smoothly.

I took the shifter completely apart and all the components looked good. The bushings were fine and all the metal parts had no signs of slop or excess wear. Some of the factory grease from 2000 was a little dried up in places and so I cleaned it all up and re-lubed it.

I could not get the problem to repeat. It does move more smoothly now, but tI'm deeply concerned because I'd hate for it get stuck when docking and shifting is needed to arrest momentum

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm selling the boat this Wednesday and want it to be perfect for the new owner.

 

[alldodge]

I'm thinking that's a tough one

Every cable, throttle control, drive and everything works as it should without issue, once inspection and disassembly was done

My guess, is the neutral safety latch is what hung, even ever so slightly. I might think about removing the neutral latch, but your call. Mine is the older version of yours which does not have the latch

 

[Mischief Managed]

Tested it about 50 times on muffs and on the water yesterday, operated perfectly every time. Must have just been sticky grease, I guess. It does operate much more smoothly now.... Thanks for taking the time to write a reply. I really appreciate it.

 

[alldodge]

Gremlin's their pesky little vermin

 

[Mischief Managed]

It operated perfectly for 14 years and then a couple of days before I plan to sell it. I am so going to miss this boat, but I am so not going to miss working on stern drives; they are the devil's spawn. The two boats replacing my current boat are inboard powered (main boat) and outboard powered (tender). No more bellows, lower shift cables, gimbal rings and swivel shaft seals. Won't miss them...

 

[alldodge]

I might do that one of these days, there is just such a loss in performance that keeps me hanging on. The days I get done work on it and feeling like a pretzel makes me think hard, but maybe I'll slow down some day. Hope your new boat gives you many years of enjoyment.

 

[muc]

Encountered a weird problem over the weekend. Went to put the boat in gear to leave the dock and the shift was locked into neutral. Not just more stiff, literally locked solidly in the full upright position as though the red shift lock lever was failing to disengage. Prior to this, it has operated flawlessly for the 14 years I have owned the boat. I was able to get it to work by pushing and pulling the shift lever sideways.

Facts:

1. 7.4 MPI Bravo 3

2. The problem was NOT caused by the red shifter lock lever, it works smoothly and the bottom of it comes completely out of the slot.

3. The throttle-only button allows the shifter to move normally.

4. All the shift and throttle cables are in perfect working order and slide smoothly.

I took the shifter completely apart and all the components looked good. The bushings were fine and all the metal parts had no signs of slop or excess wear. Some of the factory grease from 2000 was a little dried up in places and so I cleaned it all up and re-lubed it.

I could not get the problem to repeat. It does move more smoothly now, but tI'm deeply concerned because I'd hate for it get stuck when docking and shifting is needed to arrest momentum

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm selling the boat this Wednesday and want it to be perfect for the new owner.

Too much preload where the throttle cable connects to the throttle body will cause this.