throttle very stiff with engine off

[boatman37]

Really weird and I'm not at all familiar with these shifter systems. Its a 2006 Mercruiser 350 with a B3. Took the carb off last weekend to rebuild it and put it back on today but when i went to test the throttle it was very stiff. throttle lever on the carb is smooth with the linkage unhooked. the only difference was the factory had a thicker carb flange gasket than what came with the kit but the linkage bracket bolts to the carb flange so that shouldn't matter.

So i disconnected the throttle cable from the carb and was able to move the throttle forward but it was very difficult. Once i moved it forward i couldn't get it back to neutral. it would move back to almost neutral but got very tight. finally got it to reverse but same thing. had trouble getting it back to neutral. it also looked and felt like it was neutral but my ignition would not work so it obviously wasn't. finally got it to recognize neutral and started it up. throttle moved freely like normal then. hooked throttle linkage back up and it was tight again with engine off. started it back up and it was freed up again. so engine running throttle/shifter moves normally. engine off throttle/shifter very stiff. i didn't touch any shifter cables, only removed the throttle cable from the carb.

had new bellows installed last fall and will have to check my receipt but pretty sure they replaced the lower shift cable too

 

[Bt Doctur]

Bravo drives need to be running to shift properly, should never try to shift without the motor running.

 

[GA_Boater]

Use the throttle only button while moving the control lever when the motor is off. Forcing the lever without using the button can lead to a broken shift cable.

 

[boatman37]

hmmm. good to know. never realized that. not sure i had ever tried it before but i was in the engine bay and had my wife try it so to make it easier just told her to push the gray button. good to know it is a simple issue...lol

thanks