No Reverse

[Aspaguy]

Hello,
I have a 1989 Glastron Sierra 199 with a merc 3.0L and Alpha One outdrive. I dropped the lower unit on the outdrive and manually rotated the shift shaft from forward to neutral to reverse. When in forward the prop stopped rotating counter-clockwise as it should letting me know it was engaged. In neutral the prop spins both directions. In reverse the prop stops as I tried to rotate it clockwise again letting me know it was in gear. I reinstalled the lower unit and shifted using the shift cable. Forward worked fine, neutral worked but when I tried reverse it would not go into reverse. It seems the shift channel on the upper unit does not turn enough. If it would turn 1/4 more it would go into reverse gear. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: No Reverse

adjust your shift cable linkage at the engine

 

[Aspaguy]

Re: No Reverse

I tried adjusting the cable but still no reverse. I took the cable off the mounting plate on the engine and manually operated the cable. I was able to get it into forward and neutral. But when I tried reverse the shift channel on the stern drive did not fully rotate to allow reverse to engage. Would this still be a shift cable adjustment?

 

[cr2k]

Re: No Reverse

Your shift foot on the lower is out of alignment. Should face forward when in forward gear and be assembled that way. Any time you remove any part of the drive on a MC you NEED to be in Forward gear, no if's and's or but's, this is the only way it will work.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: No Reverse

I tried adjusting the cable but still no reverse. I took the cable off the mounting plate on the engine and manually operated the cable. I was able to get it into forward and neutral. But when I tried reverse the shift channel on the stern drive did not fully rotate to allow reverse to engage. Would this still be a shift cable adjustment?

Doesn't seem like adjustment issue after doing that test. How old is the lower shift cable? So this just started happening on it's own, not after the drive was split?

 

[Aspaguy]

Re: No Reverse

No, the boat had this problem when I bought it. Though at the time i bought the boat I did not know it had this problem. I took apart the upper unit and found that the cavity where the shift swing arm was located was full of what look like salt deposit. It did not allow the arm to fully swing to the reverse position. The shift swing arm could not fully rotate because it was blocked by all this gunk. Additionally, I found that the u-joints were rusted and need replacement. I am going to take this all apart and replace the u-joints, clean out the shift swing arm cavity, and re-adjust the shift cable. I will look for a replacement for the shift swing arm because the rubber roller is deteriorating. This may also have contributed to the shift shaft channel not turning enough to allow the reverse gear to engage. I think Eric 3.7 was on the right track. I will post again when I change all this stuff out to let all know if this solved my problem.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: No Reverse

That part of the shift is in the bellhousing, where the arm moves in and out. There is an upgraded shift shaft bushing kit that you may want to do. Here is a photo of Fishermark's done. There are 2-brass bushings guiding the shift shaft and the upper one has a seal pressed in it to keep water out of areas it should not be.

Check out the bellows while you are there. If there are any cracks on the rubber, I would be ordering up them as well.

 

[Aspaguy]

Re: No Reverse

Thanks Eric 3.7LX I will see if I can find that upgrade. It looks like this kit will extend the life of the shift shaft.

 

[merc120_81]

Re: No Reverse

I have an alpha stern drive, on the shift shaft that the shift foot goes over, there is for lack of a better word a bent (concave/convex washer) take a look for it, if its like mine, I believe it went " hump up, any way.. if you have it one way, try it the other. Sorry I don't remember exactly, but ran into a similar issue, mine wouldn't quite go in either gear when I had it in backwards.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: No Reverse

all that gunk may have gotton into the slide and compacted it in the slide preventing full travel for reverse.new shift cable should fix it.
merc120, the washer is supposed to be flat.If bent, the lower was installed incorrectly and jammed the shift shaft splines