Motor won't always go into reverse

[Sammy K]

Hi, I have a 1988 45hp Classic Fifty that I recently purchased and it will not go into reverse when the steering wheel is turned to the starboard side. If the wheel is in the center position or anywhere to the port side it works just fine. The previous owner just put in new flooring and carpet including the side panels, so I hoped he might have just put the controller and cables back in a little too tight. I moved the controller back a bit and removed a couple of hangers supporting the cables. This allowed me to experiment and move the cables around to see if that would fix problem. No luck... So with the motor off, I removed the top cowl, turned the wheel all the way starboard and pulled the shift/throttle level backwards just to the point where I could feel more than normal resistance. Then I turned the motor slowly by hand and just as it approached the center position I heard a click and the shift lever moved less than 1/2 inch back and it went into reverse. Once in reverse you can turn the wheel fully in any direction and it stays in reverse until you pull forward on lever. I repeated this again but this time before turning the motor I felt around where the cables come into motor and found what I believe is called the "cable barrel" and it was bound up and the spring that allows the cable to move from side to side was also stuck. Before I spend any money on new cables does anybody think it could be something else or maybe an adjustment that could be done? Thanks..

 

[MH Hawker]

the shift cable needs adjusting on the motor end

 

[GA_Boater]

Is the motor running when shifting into reverse? How tight is the shift cable between the motor and splashwell exit?

The throttle and shift cables should have a nice sized loop between the motor and splashwell exit so there is no binding.

What is the serial number of the motor? The cable barrel is secured in different ways and the serial number will help ID how your cables are held in place.

 

[merc850]

Don't shift into reverse when motor isn't running unless someone turns the prop at the same time. Damage to the shift mech. can happen.

 

[Sammy K]

I've tried it running and not running and it behaves the same way. When I loosened up the cables I was able to make a good sized loop coming out of the splashwell. Originally it was kind of tight and I thought that was the problem. The serial number is 0B307083. Thanks GA_Boater

 

[GA_Boater]

You have two of these cable retainers. The spring you mentioned in the first post is probably the one on the shaft. The lever is lifted to allow the cross pin to fit into the cable barrel slot and while pushing the lever to port or toward the outside of the motor, pushed down to secure the barrel which has a detent the cross pin fits into. It sounds like the barrel is not secure and that could cause shifting issues when the wheel is turned because of the strain on the cable with a loose barrel.

The cable may need adjust after getting it latched if the barrel has been spun around at all. Unlatch it and make the adjustment and re-latch. It could take several tries.






I asked about the motor running because of what merc850 mentioned. The reverse gears are straight cut and if the teeth aren't aligned perfectly or the gears turning, the teeth don't mesh and forcing into reverse can stretch the cable or bend/mutilate/twist the shift shaft down to the lower unit.

You don't want to mess with that rod. So only shift to reverse with the motor running or turn the prop by hand so the gears mesh.

Ignore the Green Bay Prop stuff - I stole the pic from Ebay.

 

[Sammy K]

Thanks GA and merc850 for your advise and pointers! The cold weather is moving in so I'm not sure when I'll get back to it because I need to winterize. But I'll surely proceed with caution when I do now that I'm aware of the gear mesh issue.

 

[Sammy K]

I finally had time to get back and eventually fiqured out where my problem was from. It had nothing to do with the shift linkage or adjustments. Turned out to be a damaged tilt height adjustment pin. The reverse lock needs to hook on to it in order to let the motor go into reverse and it wasn't hooking the pin fully when the motor was turned to the starboard side. Hope this might someone else down the line because it sure had me pulling my hair out for awhile.