More problems....Getting Really Frustrated!!!!-gctid396272

[Guest]

Just when I think I am FINALLY going to get her into the water for the first time, I get hit with another setback.

You guys helped me out big time with rebuilding my lower end/outdrive. After putting all new seals, o-rings, impeller, etc into it, refilling and reinstalling it, it started fine (out of the water), and had no leaks(the reason I rebuilt it) in the lube oil.

The second time I start it, no problems except it idles too low and stalls when the rpms drop when shifting into idle/neutral./ After it comes up to temperature (around 180f - 200f) it does better but still wants to stall in neutral...really rough, like its running on 1-2 cylinders. Acts like it wants be idling around 600rpm but can't sustain it.

But the real problem is shifting from neutral to reverse...it dies immediately. I read up on the issues...bad shifter cable, bad switch, needs to be in the water to really check it out, etc. But the one that scares me is "when removing the stern drive, the controls should be placed in full forward position before removing the lower unit. .......I did not do that. It was in neutral when I removed it and was never touched during the removal and reinstallation. It went together fine...now I find out I may have damaged components during the reinstall because of that.???

When I place the controls into forward gear, the prop locks, but I get no ratcheting, which some say I should get when spinning it in the opposite direction (from the locked direction). However when I shift into reverse it spins freely in both directions, no locking and no ratcheting noise.

But the WORST is hearing the wife reminding me what B.O.A.T. means...Break Out Another Thousand....

Bought it 3 months ago and it looks really good in the drive way, previous owner told me it was in such great condition that when I drove it from HIS driveway, I could easily drop it in the water, start her up and enjoy the water.....NOT.

Please help!!!

Jeff T

[Guest]

jefft wrote:
...The second time I start it, no problems except it idles too low and stalls when the rpms drop when shifting into idle/neutral./ After it comes up to temperature (around 180f - 200f) it does better but still wants to stall in neutral...really rough, like its running on 1-2 cylinders. Acts like it wants be idling around 600rpm but can't sustain it.

It should idle at the specified RPM - usually 800RPM. Things to check that come to mind are shifter/throttle cable adjustment, choke, engine tune, carb idling circuit. It could also be an unusual loading of the engine such as a bad gimble bearing or uJoint in the outdrive.

jefft wrote:
But the real problem is shifting from neutral to reverse...it dies immediately. I read up on the issues...bad shifter cable, bad switch, needs to be in the water to really check it out, etc. But the one that scares me is "when removing the stern drive, the controls should be placed in full forward position before removing the lower unit. .......I did not do that.

The danger there is breaking the shifter linkage. If you had done that, it would not shift into fwd and reverse. Unlikely, if you did not change the shifter position when you had the drive off. From your post, I cannot tell if it shifts into reverse and spins the prop in reverse.

jefft wrote:
But the WORST is hearing the wife...

Can't help you with that, buddy

jefft wrote:
Bought it 3 months ago and it looks really good in the drive way, previous owner told me it was in such great condition that when I drove it from HIS driveway, I could easily drop it in the water, start her up and enjoy the water.....NOT.

Greasy used car salesman stuff. Consider this progression: 1. Boat purchased new for $$$$$. 2. Boat gets older and owner does not maintain it. 3. Boat gets sold used for $$. 4. New owner spends $$ to get the boat right again.

[Guest]

Thanks Wildman.

I am way below the 800 RPM you mentioned. I can bump that up a bit.

Reference the shifter cable, it will shift into forward and turn the prop. However when I shift into reverse the engine dies, so no spinning prop.

I disconnected the micro-switch on the shift mechanism and although it did not stall when I tgried it again, it also did not spin the prop. Someone told me there needs to be a load on the prop to get it to shift into reverse. Maybe just putting it into the water and doing a shakedown run would be the best thing??

Thanks for the insight. Keep it coming!

Jeff T.

[Chief_Alen]

The shift switch only works when coming out of gear in the water. Can you shift it manually? Disconnect the lower shift cable from the bracket and see if the drive will shift. The boat does not have to be running.

[Guest]

jefft wrote:
... it also did not spin the prop. Someone told me there needs to be a load on the prop to get it to shift into reverse. Maybe just putting it into the water and doing a shakedown run would be the best thing?? ...Jeff T.

I have tested my Alpha One G2 on the muffs before - drive down, make sure NOBODY IS EVEN NEAR THE BOAT (unless it is a lookout), put it in reverse or drive, and don't rev the engine. I think it should spin the prop in both directions on the muffs. Note: spinning props are extremely dangerous.

P.S. Do not force a shift. If you have the shift shaft connected wrong it could break. You should have watched that it was engaged correctly when you put it together (along with all the o-rings and gasket being in place). If you are not sure, I would put the outdrive down, put it in fwd or neutral (neutral worked better for me), and back off the housing until you can verify.

[Guest]

Chief Alen wrote:
The shift switch only works when coming out of gear in the water. Can you shift it manually? Disconnect the lower shift cable from the bracket and see if the drive will shift. The boat does not have to be running.

Chief,

I tried that and I still cannot get the prop to lock in reverse. It turns freely as in the neutral/idle position.

How much play/travel should there be in the shift cable...from fully pushed in (for reverse) to fully pulled out (forward)? Mine allows for about an inch and a half. Seems like it should be shorter.

The cable moves freely otherwise.

Thanks

JeffT

[Guest]

wildman wrote:
I have tested my Alpha One G2 on the muffs before - drive down, make sure NOBODY IS EVEN NEAR THE BOAT (unless it is a lookout), put it in reverse or drive, and don't rev the engine. I think it should spin the prop in both directions on the muffs. Note: spinning props are extremely dangerous.

P.S. Do not force a shift. If you have the shift shaft connected wrong it could break. You should have watched that it was engaged correctly when you put it together (along with all the o-rings and gasket being in place). If you are not sure, I would put the outdrive down, put it in fwd or neutral (neutral worked better for me), and back off the housing until you can verify.

Wildman,

I have never put the prop back on. I felt it wuld be safer if I needed to spin the shaft not to have it on. Hopefully that does not affect the spinning/locking of the prop in reverse,,,?

And I was careful to watch as well as possible. the mating of the shifter and the shift rod. All went well and lined up perfectly when I mated the two together. The two sections went together with just a twist on the prop shaft, lining things up.

Not sure where to go from here.

Jeff t

[Guest]

Chief Alen wrote:
... Disconnect the lower shift cable from the bracket and see if the drive will shift. The boat does not have to be running.

Were you able to do this? I think Chief is saying to take the cable out of the equation and operate the shifting as close to the outdrive as possible. See if it is feels positive when shifting into reverse. I've never done it but maybe you can get someone to crank the engine after you activate the shifter and see if it is working.

[Guest]

First, I would try to crank the engine a bit and see if that gets it to go into reverse - maybe the drive shaft has to spin for the gears to react to the shifter.

Then, wait until Monday afternoon - others may post some diagnostic suggestions.

After that, what to do depends on if you think the reverse gearing could be bad. Was it working before you took the outdrive off? If so, you may want to drop the drive until you can peek at the shift shaft connection - suspect something you did.

From there, I would try to determine if the problem is in the upper or lower drive. Maybe you bring a mechanic in here to help diagnose it. If the mechanic can't tell you if it is the upper or lower drive I would be suspicious of that mechanic. Then, if the mechanic starts talking about a big tear-down, I would consider replacing that whole part of the upper or lower outdrive with a new unit from SE Engineering. That way, for a little more than the repair costs, you get a new unit.

It probably won't come to that - if it was working before its probably something relatively simple.

[Guest]

You should also search the internet for similar reported problems. How did they diagnose and fix it?

Also, I see from your writeup you never have actually seen the reverse function correctly.

[itsabowtime2]

I would take it apart, allign the drive again, and install. I remember the first time I did my drives, I too did not bump the drive into forward on one of them and had the same issue. We tested it by hand, realized the error, did it over and all was well.