Cattitude

Getting a head start for a friend....
Yesterday his Starboard? drive stuck in fwd. as he was idling in to raft up. The shifter at the helm could be moved to all positions, but no matter where the control was the drive was still in fwd. You could see the cable move at the shifter so it's likely somewhere under the hatch or in the drive.

What's most likely the culprit, where the cable attaches to the upper case in the bravo? We did not even think to check the mechanism on the engine where motion transfers to the shorter cable (It was late afternoon and we knew he could finsh the day ok)

It's a bit rainy today so we might go work on it soon.

I've had a bravo off before but it's been a few yrs and i barely remember anything about how the cable hooks up.

I'm guessing he's got about 100 or so hours on the 575's/42' Tiger if it matters.

RJ1340

On the drive end of the shifter cable is a little bitty ball that's grabbed by a little crappy socket on the end of the shifter arm as you install the drive. Its a wonder it stays on at all. That's your number one culprit.
There's other possibilities, but whatever it is you'll have to remove the drive. Be glad that 9 times out of 10 that ball slips out when you're in forward and not reverse.
PS Bravos suck and no, I don't know of anything better for the same price.

Mr Gadgets

Cat,
Check the action of the cable that goes to the drive. If it is moving then the problem is toward the drive. Two chocies, take the drive off and look at the cable where it goes into the linkage. Or you could drain the drive and pull the back cap. Under that cap is the linkage that transfers the push pull of the cable to a lifting or dropping of the cone clutch with the shift fork. It wont shift unless the drive is turning, but you can wiggle the cable and see if the linkage is connected. If the shift shaft isnt turning.. could be a broken bolt or it may have fallen out. Not likely. I would pull the drive and see how the linkage looks at that point. If the linkage is broken the top and back cap have to come off to get it out to replace it.
If I can be of any help.. let me know. Give me a call if you want. 616-335-8446

Dick

Cattitude

Ok, so can the ball be put back into the socket by draining a qt and pulling the back cap?? (This could reasonable done on the lift as the boat backs in etc and it would be easy to lay a sheet of plywood down and go to it rather than run it a few miles to the ramp etc).

If it's a possibility it's worth the minimum time investment.

Payton

yep, you could do that.

Mr Gadgets

Catt.. did you have any luck at this? You wont be able to put the cable end in the linkage without pulling the drive. If you move it back about an inch or so, you can see the cable end. It will pull the linkage out of the cavity it is located in, about an inch. There should be a lever that sits on top of the main linkage casting. Lift that a little and push the ball on the end of the cable into it, as the drive goes back on. It should stay in there. This must go back and forth to go from fwd-net-rev.
Hope that helps.
If you do the boat lift deal, you can see if the linkage is working. Look for the shifter linkage to rotate the shift rod which will move the cams on the fork, forcing it up or down. Remember the input shaft should be moving for it work.. Dont force it..

Dick

Cattitude

Thanks all, did not attempt the fix yet, weather cleared and we all hit the lake, even the non shifting Tiger.

Plan to pull later in the week, slide the drive back on the studs and hook it up right on the boat ramp- do it on a weeknight so we're not buggin anyone.

Will confirm our results.

Mr Gadgets

ok .. sounds good..
good luck with it.

InXS

Well, after pulling the drive to the end of the studs we found the cable was attached to the shift linkage correctly, so we removed the back cap to expose the shifter mechanism. It turns out that a 3/4" screw in the lower shift cam and shift shaft is missing. Supposed to have permanent loctite on it, possibly this screw got missed?? Big question now is, where is the screw and is the drive in jeopardy by a screw floating around in it?? Had some metal shavings on the magnet from the lower drain plug, but not 3/4" worth of screw. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks to Cattitude for the helping me this evening.

Thanks, InXS

Cattitude

Update,
looks like a nuisance fix but luckily not expensive. We did it on the lift with minimal fuss. After pulling the back cover we could see that the lower arm was rotating the shift rail or shaft but hat it was not rotating the assy above it(fork assy which activates the clutches) it looks like the bolt that secured the upper assy backed out and fel down to the bottom of the drive- 1/4-28 maybe??

Now, aside from replacing the bolt, can the old one be retrieved (is it magnetic)? Will it hurt anything resting at the bottom of the housing? Anyplace we are more likely to find it if it is magnetic and can be fished out?

I intend to make this part of seasonal maint when changing oil, remove, clean with brake fluid etc and reloctite with red. Will now stock the bolts too.