Help! Shifting into gear question!

[mbroome]

When putting my boat into gear, it sounds like its dragging . I can bump it and it drops into forward. I can get up oj plane and every once in a while it "jumps" out of gear and the motor revs up. I throw it into nuetral and try it again and all is fine........is this something I can repair myself or do I need to make a trip to smith marine?

[DMOORE]

If it's an I/o, I would have the shift cables/linkages properly adjusted first. Start with the basics. You can purchase a manual for pretty much all the models out there.
Darrell.

[mbroome]

It is an I/0. I have a basic maint manual, I'll go digging today in it.

[Classic Daycruiser]

Shift cables get sticky after a few years. You will probably need to replace it for a long term fix. Is it an Alpha I drive?:idea:

[mbroome]

I bit the bullet and took it down to smith marine. Might as well let the folks that fix this stuff for a living fix it right the first time. Service manager said he bets its a misadjusted cable. I just gotta wait and see what they have to say! Dropped it off a few mins ago! It's a stringer outdrive, or so I'm told.
http://a668.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_f82fe587750d58be77aa80f67ba7d9e3.jpg

[mbroome]

Service manager also told me my drive isnt seen very often and is kinda rare.that true?

[Goldfinger]

Some call it a 400/800 it is OMC. Finding parts is becoming more rare but there are still many of these drives around. At least in cali there is. Sierra has most aftermarket parts for these. Adjusting the cable is the first thing to try but if after that you keep slipping out of gear.........your lower gear set may have to be replaced before it gets any better. The clutch dog and forward gear lugs can get rounded and have a hard time staying engaged. If you are lucky a shift adjustment sometimes will keep them engaged, if the are not too rounded off yet. You can replace the cable but you have to get into the lower unit and so you can choose to look at the gears then. Jumping completely out of gear and revving up is quite extreme for this problem. Something a spun shaft, coupler or prop might do that. They can still hold at lower RPMs then spin out.. good luck

[Riverdog1]

I bit the bullet and took it down to smith marine. Might as well let the folks that fix this stuff for a living fix it right the first time. Service manager said he bets its a misadjusted cable. I just gotta wait and see what they have to say! Dropped it off a few mins ago! It's a stringer outdrive, or so I'm told.
http://a668.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_f82fe587750d58be77aa80f67ba7d9e3.jpg
The shop is going to tell you there is nothing wrong and charge you $400 bucks to replace the gear oil. Make sure they take the upper and lower unit off to inspect, will cost you around $800 and if they find any damage will cost you more. It will give you years more enjoyment from that beast. Hell, us jetters pay more than that every year and do the wrenching personally. If it were me, I would dig into it. Unless you have lots of spare cash to take it to a shop, you should learn to wrench. If anything else, it's an excuse to have the guys over for a beer:D :D or six...

[ratso]

We see a lot of those around our area, especially from being an OMC/Bombardier franchise forever. If you need any quotes to be sure you're not getting shafted, send me a pm. I can give you flat rate and pricing on parts...;)

[mbroome]

I appreciate it! I talked to the shop yesterday evening. They cant get to it till wed. Im hoping its just a cable adjustment. GUy I got the boat from a fews months ago says its a remaned drive and new cable. He is telling me the prob is a cable adjustment. I'm very comfortable wrenching on my ski. Ive never done a cable adjustment before and figured I'd let someone do it right! Makes me feel more comfortable taking the fam out on it :) .If its gonna get really expensive, trust me, I'll be hollering for some help!

[ratso]

I appreciate it! I talked to the shop yesterday evening. They cant get to it till wed. Im hoping its just a cable adjustment. GUy I got the boat from a fews months ago says its a remaned drive and new cable. He is telling me the prob is a cable adjustment. I'm very comfortable wrenching on my ski. Ive never done a cable adjustment before and figured I'd let someone do it right! Makes me feel more comfortable taking the fam out on it :) .If its gonna get really expensive, trust me, I'll be hollering for some help!
Yeah, you almost need a dealer adjusting those... they have interrupter switches and all that bs that might need adjusting too... Good luck.;)

[mbroome]

eyeballing the cable I saw the two interupter dipswitches with cams. Are those some kind of cutout? Do they "interrupt" the motor so the boat can drop into fwd and reverse? I azlso saw a plate with degree markings on it. The center line indicator was dialed in just past the middle part toward "reverse" when in nuetral.

[Goldfinger]

those switches need to work or it can cause very difficult shifting. they are for allowing the gears to disengage when coming out of gear mostly. one is the interrupter and one is an override so it wont interrupt while in gear. Theoretically the indicator plate is supposed to be in the middle but depending on age and any other variables it may not be the middle that shifts best. If you are slipping out of forward, typically it would need more forward adjustment. Unless this shop has a dyno, test tank, or lake.............this repair is going to be diffficult to know for sure running off a flusher on land.

[mbroome]

as this thread progresses, I'm starting to agree with the service manager and the guy that sold me the boat to begin with! They have all three btw, lake, tank and dyno. All I know is im having withdrawals without my boat! LOL!
these are the folks I took it too:
http://smithmarinesales.com/

[KeepsTheBeerAfloat]

Get somebody there with you to flip the barrels on the threads back and forth, while you engage and disengage from TDC. The wrenching is simple. You adjust the barrels down the thread or up the thread to make sure that they are engaging and aligned properly, so the contacts are hitting the switches at the proper time. Think my brother and I spent less than an hour and a half on 'em and they were all good. Looked in the manual having never done it before and it was pretty simple after the learning curve.