need opinions on shifter interupt problem

Sprint18

Cadet
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
10
I rebuilt my little scarab sprint 18 from bottom to top, dropped in a healthy 4.3 with newer style Alpha gen 2 drive. I went with the billet 2 stick side mount shifter from dana marine. Im using the new button style shift killer assy.

Now to my problem, with this shifter I didnt need the sprung tube on the control cable since it would just pull on the kill button side and make the shifter want to return to neutral during running. so i 86'd that. when I shift into gear (forward or reverse) it works great, goes right in. when pulling on the stick to return it to neutral or go from F to R or R to F it will pull on the kill button so long while i shift that it always kills the engine before i get into neutral and returns to and idle state.

My idea of a solution so far is to add another spring to the kill detent arm on the assy to reduce load on the switch while i pull it out of gear. hopefully enough so when it comes to the very point where i really need the engine to kill for a second is right when its about to pull out of gear. Its simply just killing the engine for too long while i shift back into neutral.

Does anyone think this will work or is there i way i can get more pressure on the lower cable before it hits the button to kill the engine?

This is making it so freakin hard to maneuver not only while docking, but when im pulling up to the boys with there very expensive boats, i have to be very very careful. and be quick on the key so i can finish my docking or mooring.

Please advise, ive been pulling my hair out. I tried to add the spring tube back on the assy like it should be but it only added more tension to the wrong side and made it kill quicker and was making the engine kill sometimes while under way from the tube pulling to the kill button detent

Thanks in advance
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
Having the kill switch stay closed for long enough to actually stop the engine indicates a problem in the cable/slider/lever/bell housing area. Before jerry-rigging something, sort the actual cause of the problem out. You may even have the lower shift cable routed incorrectly and it's causing the cable to be sticky and sluggish... And in any case, no amount of 'band-aiding' will solve the problem...

Chris......
 

Sprint18

Cadet
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
10
but its all literally out of the box new and routed clean and with minimal bending into the transom assy.
 

Sprint18

Cadet
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
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10
the engine has a 276HR cam and its about 10.8/1 compression so I'm not really with alot of time here compared to a crate merc engine. but even when i turn the idle up to 1k it still kills it too long to fire back up after the shift back to neutral
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,322
Between the cam`s specs and the comp numbers you would think the motor would be idleing at no less than 1800 rpm .that's a bit tough for a kill switch.
 

Sprint18

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Jul 9, 2009
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The boat was a wreck when i got it, everything was replaced with brand new parts. the old stuff was sold with the 3.0 lx that was in it. literally everything is new. As for the cam specs, its not a real wild cam, it has a lumpy idle but nothing to awfully big. i idle it at 750-800 rpm and it does pretty well. the drive shifts good and smooth while off or out of the water. its fuel injected and i can use my laptop to change anything i wish related to fuel only. HEI dizzy (davis unified ignition).

While in the water its clear that i am over powering the spring on the kill detent before it pulls much at all on the lower cable. The drive is fresh, new cables, new shifter, everything is adjusted perfectly, since i put it together i have checked the cable adjustment again. the problem seems to be more frequent now that everything is breaking in and moving smoother. i believe the spring tension on the kill assy has relaxed a bit giving me less pull on the lower cable before it hits the kill button. this weekend i will try to move the button back away from the detent a smidge to see if that will help me out. but i ordered 3 new springs my plan is to add another spring to the detent so i have more force pulling the cable against the gearset before it pulls hard enough on the kill detent to trigger the ignition kill. I can always massage the spring a bit to relax the second one if its too much pressure. i cannot change the pivot point but i can move the pin to throw move if need be, but i doubt that will change much for my problem.

below is the exact model i purchased. the button can be moved in and out 1/8". also the pin can be slid up or down to increase or decrease throw length. for those who dont know what spring i am referring to its the fork spring there on the detent.
 
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Sprint18

Cadet
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
10
i ordered 3 more springs, when they got here they had yellow tips and they were a bigger gauge wire, 2x the tension of the little red one that was in my shift kill. Im going out today for some testing on the water. first i will try 1 yellow spring, then i will add the red one back on if its not enough. or 2 yellows if that still isnt enough.
 

Sprint18

Cadet
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
10
just to follow up... the yellow springs i ordered were much bigger gauge. put one in and its much harder to pull from forward or reverse into neutral, however it does pull harder on the lower cable before it hits the kill. it a good fix for now, but i am fabricating brakets for my custom risers so that i may mount the interupt where its supposed to be. this way the cable has about 120 degress of total bend angle before it gets to the drive instead of the 320 degrees it has now. small boat problems boys.... its tight back there. but as i said its working for now. i also shouldmention that with my efi software the very bottom on the map where it should be very rich to catch idle between shifts needs to be worked over. its targeting 14.0/1 afr down there when it should be more like 10/1 to help this problem. it works flawless in cold start mode, so i have some work on the tune to do yet.
Thanks for all your replies and help.
 
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