Yamaha '93 L4 3.0 outdrive shifting not working and acting really weird

[dilkington]

I've been trying to get my boat working since june, and it's doing some weird stuff. In june I put the boat in a lake for the first time this summer, and couldn't shift into reverse. Took the outdrive off and it shifted fine. Put it back in the lake and it wouldn't shift into forward or reverse. I found out that when I left the outdrive on loosely it worked, if I tighten up the bolts, it doesn't shift. Tried everything I could think of and finally ended up buying an outdrive lower unit. With the new lower on I could easily move the brass V with my finger. I thought it was fixed and at first it seemed to work. I've got a huge tub that I filled with water and started the boat. It was just on the trailer and it shifted great, but when I put it in the lake it wouldn't shift again. The next thing I tried was to drill out the shift fork bushing, and it worked really well. I took the boat out to the lake and it ran and shifted great. When I tested it all out at a lake near my home it worked great. I stay at an rv site 3 hours drive away. So I drove back to this rv site, and put it in the lake, and again it wouldn't shift.

So now I'm completely confused. Why would it work great here at home, then not work 3 hours later? Could travelling have caused something to go wrong? If anyone can help, I would greatly appreciate it, this is just getting really frustrating.

 

[ricovw]

Re: Yamaha '93 L4 3.0 outdrive shifting not working and acting really weird

Assuming you've drilled the shift fork correctly. Have you replaced the shift cable? Things are a little different under load....when it's in the water.