Stiff shift cable causes?

[ericp501]

Pulled the cable off at the engine to try shifting by hand and its really stiff. It'll go into forward but I really need to yank it to make it go into reverse by hand. Does this mean I need a new cable or could it be something else? It was shifting fine last season, I just had the bellows changed by a "mechanic" but he seemed a little ruff around the edges. I'm wondering if he could have done something wrong while back there that would cause this problem.

 

[ericp501]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

I also had the impeller changed so the lower was taken off the upper..

 

[achris]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

... I just had the bellows changed by a "mechanic" but he seemed a little ruff around the edges. I'm wondering if he could have done something wrong while back there that would cause this problem.

You need to remove the drive, then check out the system from there....

 

[ericp501]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

I'm seeing posts about "being off a spline" connecting the lower to the upper.. What does that mean and could that be the problem?

 

[Pete104]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

No, you would have much different symptoms!
As far as the tech replacing the bellows, did he change the cable also? I have seen shortcuts & that is 1 of them.

 

[ericp501]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

No he did not.. He did the whole job then said "bad news dude, u need a new cable". And he showed me how stiff it was. Anyone have a cable replacement write up? Can I tape the new cable to the old cable so when I pull out the old cable it feeds in the new cable?

 

[Don S]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

This is a problem with people reading posts, and just picking one at random to believe. How do you know that what you read was posted by someone that knew what they were talking about, or how do we know? People give opinions all the time and know nothing about what they are talking about. Don't believe everything you read.

You obviously found some backyard boat mechanic and want to know if what he did caused your problem. Sorry, crystal ball is cracked. The question now is, do you want to fix the problem yourself, or find a way to blame someone? We can help you find and fix your problem, your mechanic is a problem for a lawyer.

Should you want to fix your problem, then you need to post some information. Engine and drive info would help. Year, type, make, model, and if possible the Mercruiser serial numbers.

 

[ericp501]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

Yes I want to fix the problem. 96 wellcraft 4.3 mercruiser alpha 1 gen 2.. I've narrowed it down to being a bad shift cable I need to replace. If anyone has any tips or tricks on how to do this job I'd love to hear them.

 

[Pete104]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

He ain't mechanic, he's a cob-job'r!
I'm sure there are plenty of post's on this. But No, it ain't quite that easy.

How mechanically inclined are you? Don't be offended, it's sometimes best to have somebody that knows what they are doing get it done!
There are quite a few on the subject I'm sure. So poke around & see if your comfortable.

And you if found that guy by word of mouth, spread the word you got bad info!

 

[ericp501]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

he really wasn't that bad, i'm just frustrated I guess. I'm actually quite mechanically inclined I just never pulled an outdrive before so I figured I'd bring someone in who knows what they are doing and I could watch. My father is a mechanic by trade so i do have access to plenty of tools and help from him. It looks like I have to pull the outdrive to access the lower linkage, unhook everything up top by the engine to allow it to slide out. I'm thinking if I tape the old cable and the new cable together the new cable will be put in place as the old cable slides out without even needing to replace the new bellow I just had installed. Then I have to reconnect the lower linkage and do the adjustment up top by the engine. I've been looking all over google and saving anything I can find that has to do with this job.

 

[Don S]

Re: Stiff shift cable causes?

Here is a link to the service manual you can download. http://www.4shared.com/document/dPQUcyn_/Service_Manual_14.html

One trick, when you pull the inner cable out from the transom side, take it back inside the boat and push it back into the cable. Then when you install the new outer cable, it can follow the old inner cable so it will route the right way.
That won't make any sense until you look at the manual and see what needs done.