outdrive help

[richc007]

I have a 1988 searay that I am still trying to get figured oout. Whats happened is I changed the water pump in the lower unit. its an alpha1 lower unit. put oil back in and it goes into forward gear just fine. When I try and put it in reverse the motor dies. I can see that the switch on the cable is engaging. I assume that its a safety switch of some sort or a cut out switch.
I did not put it in forward gear (stupid on my part) as i took the lower unit off and left the upper installed. Ended up taking off the upper unit and I believe they are back together right. The shoe is facing (12 O'clock) forward locking it into forward gear and the gear locks in reverse (10 O'clock). I put it back on the boat (locked in forward gear) ran it with water hooked up and it goes into forward just fine. Try and put it into reverse and its a bit hard to pull back and then it dies. Switch engages then dies..



Any suggestions.

 

[danond]

Re: outdrive help

Not familiar with Mercs but it sounds like you're doing this by guesswork. Do you have a manual for your drive?

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

your right some is guess work and alot makes sense. I do not have a manual, and its my understanding that they have taken the manuals offline or I would download it. Does anyone know where i can download the manual for a alpha1 unit?

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: outdrive help

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6covr3.pdf

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

Thank you for the reply. I opened the manual and it only has about 7 pages in it. I can see the section of the assy. but I dont believe this is the whole manual. Is there something I am doing wrong. Again thanks for the response.

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

I hope this will also help, as I dont see the serial#'s in the list.

Searay model# 18BR-1013

Mercruiser serial# OC427204

 

[Bondo]

Re: outdrive help

I opened the manual and it only has about 7 pages in it. I can see the section of the assy. but I dont believe this is the whole manual. Is there something I am doing wrong.

Ayuh,... As you move the cursor over the page, it'll change when you find the links to the rest of the manual...
Just Click when it changes...

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

Bond-o.... You're a great help and I wanted to thank you. I was able to get the manual to work like you said. Now when I get off I will go home and play with it. Will let you know how I come out. I was also reading that the cables could mess with things as well, although I dont think this is the case. Again thanks and will keep you posted.

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

Bt Doctur. I also wanted to thank you for the manual. It will be a huge help. Guys like you are much appreciated in the eyes of the novice people like myself.

Thank you..

 

[Glastron_V210]

Re: outdrive help

You don't sound familiar with the operation of the kill switch, so I'll sumarize it briefly here.

The switch operates when there is tension (Above a certain amount) on the cable.

The reason for this is that the clutch style in the merc leg goes into gear easy, but will not come out of gear if there is power being transmitted to the prop.

So the idea is if you want to come out of gear you pull the shift lever, this causes tension, and the switch operates to briefly kill the engine, the clutches unload and allow shifting out of gear, the tension relaxes, the switch opens and the engine runs again. This all happens pretty quick so it's supposed to be seamless to the operator.

So, what you have is excessive tension on the cable. The vast number of these issues are caused by rusty binding shift cables. When it binds it acts like coming out of gear when you are going into gear, and the switch operates and kills the engine. Seen it many many times on this forum. There is some possibility the drive is causing the issue, but small. Perhaps your method of removal install caused an increase in shifting tension somehow. Anyway, that's what you're looking for.



Chay

 

[richc007]

Re: outdrive help

your exactly right. Runs fine in forward, but when shifting in reverse it activates the kill switch. sounds like it needs to be unbound or maybe rerouted. I did try and adjust them last night and it got better. Now that I have the manuals I can be more precise. I am hoping this will correct the issue as the wife and kids are ready to get on the lake soon... its been 90+ degrees here...


Again thank you all for the advise. its appreciated.