**BULLETPROOF** Mercruiser ALPHA + Outboards (not bravo) lower shift cable test & adjustment
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
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Notice: (Part 2 coming with detailed instructions on what to look for and how to adjust if not working but the info is below..)
This will work on omc cobra drives and 99% of outboards too - basically the same principle applies on any gear type drive unit..
(cone clutch examples that this will NOT work on are volvo penta drives 270/280/sx/dp and mercruiser BRAVO - they use friction cones to shift NOT gears).
*** DO NOT TRY THIS ON BRAVO DRIVES ** - bravo drives require the motor to be running to shift and the newer cables are preset/locked ie NO ADJUSTMENT possible. Doing it without motor running risks bending the shift arm.
*** If your engine stalls when you put it in gear (in water only) 99% of the time the lower shift cable is old and needs replacing- instead of sliding smoothly it sticks in the sleeve which over extends the engine cut out required when shifting (usually a microsecond and unnoticeable) - and thus kills the motor. There is no quick cure for a seized/stiff lower shift cable! Drive HAS to come off.
Shift adjustment is ONLY done via the lower cable barrel AT THE ENGINE. It will have a split pin holding it in - tuning the barrel allows you to move the shift window, too much FWD = too little rev and vice versa- so u go back and forth (like in the video) until FWD/REV engages properly.
====== Moving the brass nut TOWARD the end of the cable (black plastic sleeve) will make REVERSE engage sooner.
====== Moving it the other way will make FORWARD engage sooner -
You have to keep trying and testing till you get it right. Proper engagement in FWD is of utter importance - more so than REV. Sometimes its REAL close, if so ALWAYS favor FWD engagement (few turns away form cable end).
Try 2-4 turns at a time to really fine tune it..
This video is for for correctly assembled/working drives - This does NOT show you how to assemble the drive - its simply a demo video on how to check your shift cable is setup right. This just tells you whether the front control is indeed engaging the gears correctly - and helps avoid destroying your gear set / drive / day on the lake/sea!
Get it where it locks in both FWD an REV and has NO clacking in N. You MUST shift using the control up front to test. This will take up all the slack in your steering and give you REAL WORLD results - not the text book version with all new parts.
Quick fix if your cable adjustment is way out-
Remove LOWER cable with brass barrel from bracket on motor (it goes down into the bilge)..
Slowly have someone rotate prop CCW while slowly pushing IN on the cable by hand. As soon as the clacking starts, mark where the outer sleeve sits on the inner with a sharpie. Now have them spin it CW and slowly pull the cable OUT - again soon as the clacking starts mark where the outer sits on the inner. Now make a 3rd mark between these 2 marks - this is N. Set control to N position, now adjust the barrel to make it fit in the bracket on the motor.
Now TEST it 10-15 times - ive seen cables that shift 7 out of 8 times - which is BAD. It needs to positively shift EVERY time into FWD and Rev (fwd is most important), and not a single clack when shifted back into N.
TIP:
Have someone move control slowly from N to FWD, while you sit at the back and rotate prop CCW. It will clack-clack and then it should lock fully before the control hits the FWD position.
Adjust brass barrel at motor to change setting. It should NEVER clack-clack when in FWD / N / REV EVER - not even one or two, when the motor runs it will tear the tips of the gears off!
0:00 - Intro
1:58 - Recap FWD gear
2:12 - Lower cable adjustment
Finally a video with straight forward, simple explanation. Thank You!!!
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Great video.
Ty very much...I had to take my lower unit off 3 Time's...but thanks to your info I got it right and engaging perfect ty again
great!
Exactly what we needed! Thank you for the straight forward video and instructions in the description!!
Very useful, thanks a lot!
Good video thanks, I just got a boat and noticed when I go out from reverse to neutral it rattles when I spin the prop manually, I need to adjust the cable shift.
indeed - just make absolutely sure the fwd engages well, thats where you go fast and work it hard - of course rev must as well but fwd takes priority
I was out on the last last week with my 91 Stingray 21’ Alpha One drive, and out of nowhere when I shifted to neutral to slow down the engine stalled out. It had never done this before so Immediately knew something was wrong. I restarted it, as soon as I put the boat into gear it was grinding and making horrible noises coming from the outdrive. Eventually it locked into gear and idled back to the boat ramp. I checked my shift linkage and all looks to be correctly adjusted, but after this video I am seeing that the prop still spins and makes that clacking noise well after that first forward gear stop. The throttle is also very stiff. I decided to pull the outdrive and replace the shift cable all together. I’ll report back with results after I replace it.
sounds good - do this test when you get it in. You adjust the spinning brass barrel to move the shift window, i try get it like 55% in the fwd and 45% in the rev to give FWD a slight edge- secondly there is a ratio nut at the base of the lower cable end pin (7/16 wrench) that allows you to set the ratio, moving it nearer to the partner/upper cable increases the throw to the lower which is usually what is required if there is too much slop to achieve both gears engaging positively.. ive had ones that only just engaged fwd with the ratio nut up all the way in the slot and some that worked well at about 2/3rds up - good luck- it takes some tinkering but if you can achieve the results in this video then you are good to go. Worth checking after the first run and every few months too- dont be fooled by the price and try to use chinese bellows, use sierra or OEM brand only.. it can sink your boat. Make sure the BRAND on the listing is sierra/oem, not just the description.
My 1990 Alpha 1 Gen 1 upper cable is red plastic. There is no barrel to adjust. just a set nut to turn the front part of the cable in and out. Where you have a barrel I have a clip with 3 positions. Do you know how this type of cable is adjusted?
Engine will go in reverse and prop will turn. Shift to forward prop locks one way like normal but will not spin with throttle sent and hear a clicking noise. Any thoughts?
How much do you charge for a FaceTime diagnosis? It seems that you are knowledgeable. My boat was running fine pulling my kids on tubes then I hear a pop and the propeller would not engage. I just did the test you just performed and it seems to engage in forward and reverse but the prop isn't pushing the boat. I'm pretty sure it's not a spun hub because it appears fine. I'm lost and trying to avoid extensive repair costs. Someone help😩
Not available today sorry shops closed but I believe you might have broken a shaft
Hi good video!
i just have a question. when i spin the prop in fwd it locks "ccw" but when i spin it Cw i it clicks. it does the same sound when the gear is put in rev, turning it Cw but in cww it clicks .neutral it doesn´t make a sound. is this okay?
thats fine - the gears are a one way and sometimes slip in the "wrong" direction - its the working direction that has to absolutely lock -
I set the lower shift cable to 6 inch. It was at about 6.5 inches and worked fine there until I changed the out drive. Went from no forward locking to no reverse locking with forward now locking. I guess I'll add about a 1/4 inch back to see if I can get it centered. My US marine upper control cable has me puzzled, it's different with no barrel to turn. There is a set nut on the cable end to to adjust the cable throw or total travel. Not sure what that adjustment is for??? There is a clip at the rear with 3 positions in it where most videos show a barrel???
if both cables are adjustable, one will also affect the others position so your measurement on one cable will change if u change the other.. not 100% what setup you have, but remove all cables from the brackets (take pics!) , now find the cable that shifts the gears and have someone spin the prop as in the video, now push/pull the cable manually by hand & find the exact spot the gears start to clack/make contact in both FWD (spin prop CCW) and REV (spin prop CW) and mark with a sharpie on the cable you are pushing/pullling - NOW make a 3rd mark exactly between these 2 marks (ill call this the initial Neutral reference mark).. now put the boat control lever in the upright/Neutral position - now reconnect/reset barrels to have equal amounts of threads on each side (ie dont have one barrel all the way on the end of its threads - use the original markings as a guide too unless they are out of whack).. now try reconnect the cables/clips so that the gear cable is positioned at or as close to the neutral reference mark (the center of the 2 marks you made on cable sheathing). Now do the test as I show in this video using the CONTROLLER in the boat and fine tune/ adjust only one cable if possible on whatever thread there is, barrel or end its the same principle- all cables have a thread somewhere to fine tune.. To summarize: find where the drive starts to engage both fwd and rev- now adjust whatever you need to and make all the cables/clips/whatever do what the drive wants, dont try make the drive do what the cables look like they want.. if that makes sense.
Mine just spins freely in forward or reverse, any idea what I should check? This is new to me 😮💨
make sure the control is not in neutral and the cable is connected at the motor
How much end play is acceptable. Mine has 1/16 prop end play?
that has more to do with shimming if gears are fine - if gears are worn might have some more play. this is just to verify the control is engaging gears properly-
Also i tried to turn my lower shift shaft spline to forward with vice grips and a rag to overcome the spring back but it was scoring the shaft even through the rag folder over the shaft a few times what is the correct method to do this without causing any damage to the shaft
they work but try not to damage the splines.. a good trick is to wrap a bungee cord around the prop so it pulls it upwards while engage in fwd- that will keep it loaded up while u struggle with the rest of it, if you need to turn it ever so slightly to align splines just minimally rotate prop CCW, that will turn the spline but dont do more than1/2 on the blade- otherwise you could flip an impeller blade or two. a LIGHT smear of grease or even oil inside the water pump housing helps them slip when you do this. On mercruiser, one cable goes down and another long one all the way forward. Volvo penta have one long cable form the front control all the way to the drive at the back-
I have a 25hp mercury, in fwd it locks ccw and clicks cw, but when put in reverse it locks both ways!? (in the water when put in reverse it doesn't catch... The engine just revs... Can you help? Thnx
depends on the clutch style- as long as the prop is locked CCW when in FWD and CW in REV - you should be good. Did you take the leg off? Its possible the lower was in REV and control in N when u put it on - that would make only one gear accessible - ie it would be in gear when control in N. The shift rod can be a gear out and still go in- you might need to drop the leg and check - so if the upper is in N the lower must be in N too when u slide it in, or if the upper is in FWD that the lower is too (bungee cord pulling prop CCW will stop it from rolling into N when u push it in).. whichever gear the lower unit and upper have to match basically.
If this is not your issue then you might need to check your control cable adjustment up at the motor head - something is off.. adjust the shift barrel until you have it dialed in - might take a few tries but you will get it :)
I just tried mine and I got nothing either way. Is this the same for Gen 2? Also did you ever get to the more detailed video?
same for gen2 yes - nope on the detailed - moving the brass barrel with the split pin moves the shift window between Rev and Fwd so u can balance it out in the middle more or less.. are you sure the cables have not jumped out?
Hey I have an issue I took my lower alpha one gen one off the boat as I decided to rebuild my engine. While it was off i decided to replace my water pump. When taking it off it said to put in forward gear, I did so not sure if it is now. I’m not sure how to line up the brass shift thing with the shifting gears next to the water pump. I have it all apart still not sure how to put it back, can you let me how I should like that brass 90* Bend with the gears or if it doesn’t matter. Please let me know I read the manual can’t find anything.
On the drive the shift "shoe" has 3 positions: Directly forward = FWD (prop will lock if u turn it CCW), about 30 degrees to port = Neutral (prop will be free in both directions) and about 30 degrees more (almost pointing to port) = REV ie prop will lock when rotated CW. Adjust so you get this correct before installing to the boat. Now when you go to install the drive you have to point the shoe fwd and use a bungee cord wrapped around one of the the prop blades applying some pull to the prop in a CCW direction - this will stop it from rolling out of fwd as you wiggle drive in place.. The control up front must also be in FWD - just look in the shifter on the transom where the shoe slides in - both need to point forward otherwise it wont go in.
Fstarocka Burns thanks for your help I was able to get it done today! And everything works!!!!
@@fstarockaburns425 just tried these steps but as soon as we have it in place and go to test it won’t stay locked in gear in fwd prop with pressure ccw bolt it up then as soon as it goes slightly Cw it comes out what step are we messing.
Hi there I have 2004 Rinker Captivate 192 I just had issue on my boat when I put in forward my boat goes back. Any idea what could be the problem?
the lower unit was in neutral and upper in fwd when the 2 halves were joined - you have to drain the oil, remove lower only and correct it. if the upper is in neutral then the lower must be in neutral as well (prop spins both ways free).. if the upper is in fwd, so must the lower be (prop locks when turning CCW).. the 2 halves must match. Dont forget the special small oring on the stbd side that sits in the lower units cavity.. keep it in place with grease if it doesnt stay put but they usually do- the intermediate shift arm can get stuck sometimes - you need to make sure it goes up all the way, then let it fall down straight just before you slide lower up. Trim drive up fully - it will make it ALOT easier.
You're drinking too much. Turn around and face the bow
I have a question please. In neutral, i have zero clicking, and it locks in both gears perfectly. But trying to spin it the other way while in gear, i get clicking, only while in gear. is that normal? when i go back to neutral, zero clicking
That's correct. Most important is to be fully locked when rotating CCW in forward AND zero clicking in N, otherwise the gears WILL strip/ self destruct either running in fwd and partially slipping or idling in N.
@@SocalMarineUSA thanks for responding to that question. You answered mine too, same question. There are varying levels of (friction) clicking as you move the cable adjustment barrel. I’m just shooting for no clicking in neutral while still engaging in drive gears, if I understand correctly..
I replaced my lower shift cable when I replaced my bellows. I adjusted it to the manufacturers spec and all seemed to be working properly. Hooked a hose to it and shifted it in to R and F and worked. Once we got on the water though it was very tedious to get into neutral. Going from F to N I had to start to go into R until I heard the engine idle down so I knew it was in N. Before I did the bellows my boat would do this only going from R to N now it does it both ways. Any ideas what could be my issue? It’s a 1999 sea ray with an alpha one
Sounds like you didnt re-connect the shift interrupt - without it you are gonna fight to get out of gear, in not a problem- the manual tells to disconnect this and I have no idea why - it only affects shifting in the water.. has nothing to do with correct shift cable setup-
Fstarocka Burns I never unhooked the connections or removed the physical switch. When we shift the boat the plastic bracket that looks like it rotates to change the state of the switch doesn’t rotate. When the boats running though and we move it by hand it stutters the engine and if held will kill the engine
Fstarocka Burns also out of the water the boat returns to neutral as it should. Only in the water it acts up
@@saculgaam69 yes - the shift cable might have been routed wrong - did you remember the small hex screw behind the inner cable with the lock wire? it will only actuate the big switch when in the water, not on the hose- so when you move the big switch by hand it momentarily kills motor? but not in water? then you might need to bend that stainless arm (use 2 needle nose pliers) so it sits tighter into the Vee center - those switches/arm wear out and sometimes the cut out is so late you can hardly shift. I pop the roller out, bend it with 2 needle nose pliers, and pop it back..
@@SocalMarineUSA Anyway to get a video of this?
Ok so - Mine "locks" in forward but i can continue to turn it - in
reverse it never "locks" - this is with the shift cable removed from the
mechanism and operated by hand - have i lost something in the unit /
has something let go? - With the engine running it does nothing - no
forward - no reverse whether operated by hand or the control - reverse
trips the kill switch when connected to the control
..
I did drain the lube and didn't see metal or water - We were cruising
about 3000rpm when it just let go - there was audible clicking from the
rear
..
Troubleshooting steps/tips? do I need to pull it?
The load of a boat is way more than you can do by hand .. no metal only means it hasn't been grinding along.. sounds like a snapped shaft rebuild or replacement Def recommended
@@SocalMarineUSA So locked means I shouldn't be able to turn it at all? And if i understand you I definitely needs to be pulled and inspected
When you hear click noise in fwd gear is it a problem?
In FWD it must NOT click when you turn the prop CCW, is must lock 100% otherwise there will be problems.. Thats why you slowly turn the prop CCW while someone slowly advances the control- the prop should lock a moment before the control gets to the first soft click - so you know fwd is locked just before the lever tells you you are in gear-
Is this a standard drive or lh
standard. For counter you would rotate CW for FWD and CCW for REV. .
Thank you
This fixed my issue but my shifter is backwards???? Forward is reverse and reverse is forward. Idk what the previous owners did. But now what?
are you sure its backwards? If you shift forward up front, the LOWER shift cable at the engine (one with brass barrel that goes down the engine bay) must SHRINK, if you shift REVERSE it should push out/lengthen.. If yours IS reversed u need to swap the shift cable in the control to the other wide of the plate, the prev guy must have wired the cable wrong for a counter rotating drive. If your drive IS counter rotating it will be the opposite of what I just wrote..
@@francoisbrand6111 all I know is the prop was not spinning in any direction. We did this adjustment and now at the helm when we engage a forward it goes backwards and when we go in reverse it goes forward. We have little throttle in forward but huge throttle in reverse.
If this is a std rotation drive (most common), the prop should LOCK when u spin the prop CCW when the control is in FWD (like in the video). If the engine is running and in fwd gear and the prop spins CCW, then the cable just needs to be swapped up front inside the box. Remove the control box, split the 2 sides and pop the gear shift cable into the other position, then it will work. Someone put the cable in the wrong position.
@@SocalMarineUSA there is a top placement and a bottom placement on the shifter. Should we try to move the cables to the upper part or top of the shifter, right now they are on the bottom.
@@kaylashosho6852 correct. just swap it- test it before u close it up, just hold the box shut and confirm the lower cable (one with brass nut) at the engine gets smaller when going into fwd and extends when into REV.. if so button it all back up-
I've done all of this. My prop locks when in gear. Start the boat and push the remote to forward and nothing. Any suggestions?
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