Not always shifting into forward gear-gctid357588

[wgander]

The last two times I had my boat out it didn't always shift into forward gear.

The throttle always changed but it wouldn't go into gear and I'd have to bring the shifter back to neutral and try several more times before it would shift into forward. Sometimes it would shift normally. Shifting into reverse is always crisp and smooth.

The Control is the original Quicksilver Commander 3000 Classic Panel Mount; the engine is a 3 liter Mercruiser with Alpha 1, Gen II (?) outdrive.

Where do I start? Is there a cable length I can adjust?

I bought the boat new 14 years ago and it probably has 2000 hours on it. I had it for 5 years before adding an hour meter, which now reads 1700 hours. The engine was replaced 3 years ago, but I think they used all of the original cables and accessories when it was installed.

[Chief_Alen]

Maybe the lower shift cable is going. Follow the shift cable to the shift bracket, mounted on the motor. Remove the shift cable coming from the control, now shift the lower cable and see if it moves freely.

Does the shift cable coming from the throttle move freely.

My guess as stated would be the lower cable.

[TerryW]

The very first thing to do is search the forum for all the "shifter" entries. There are loads of them.

Remotely diagnosing shifter issues has always been a real pain. I know because i had all the shifter problems in the world.

In actual fact they aren't really difficult to fix, it is just that it takes what I thought was a whole world of learning to understand the way they work.

Given the age of the control and cables I'd suspect all of them unless they have been regularly serviced.

You ask about cable adjustment. Yes there is adjustment. and that could be all that is wrong. There is a procedure to follow which is in the service manual. The procedure has to be followed very closely or you will mess up the changing completely.

Terry