Drive isnbt quite coming out of gear

"Hi team,
I have about 1 hour

"Hi team,
I have about 1 hour on my newly installed Alpha 1 Gen II lower unit (SE116). Shifts into both forward and reverse fine but it's showing problems when I try to shift out of gear. It basically stays in gear while my hand shifter is locked in the up/neutral position. Again, this happens when trying to get out of either forward or reverse. All else is fine.

Always shifted fine before I installed the new lower.
Any ideas on what I can check? How do I actually adjust the shift linkage?

I would check my manual but I'm actually on vacation in Branson, MO on the water!

Many thanks,
Eddie"

Is your cutout switch working?

Is your cutout switch working? It is designed to briefly kill the engine in order to get it out of gear.
ps. try pressing on it to see if it kills the engine just to make sure wiring is working properly if so check adjustment of cables.

Just got back... I checked the

Just got back... I checked the cutout switch and it tested fine.

I hate when this crap happens!

"It tested fine with your hand

"It tested fine with your hand, but does it actually work when taking it out of gear?"

Eddie...the gears are designed

Eddie...the gears are designed to stay locked in gear until the engine rpm gets low enough-hence the cutout switch. The check you accomplished by hand verified the switch 'wiring' works..it does not verify that the rigging of the switch is correct. When you shift out of forward or reverse the cutout switch must briefly kill the engine if not adjust your cable. ps. engine rpm should idle around 650 if it's too high it may not be helping the situation.

"Thanks gents,
I'll check

"Thanks gents,
I'll check online how to adjust the cable and give it a whirl. Please tell me this is a fix I can do myself!

So, do you think removing/reinstalling the outdrive would generally require a cable readjustment? Or was this just strange luck?"

"Eddie,
Here are some instruc

"Eddie,
Here are some instructions on making your cable adjustments,you can thank KGhost

When making the adjustments you put the controll/shift/throttle in full forward wide open throttle position.

disconnect the controll cable fro the shift bracket.

make the adjustments to the short cable.

with the short cable installed and the outdrive in full forward gear engagemnet adjust the CONTROL cable trunion to FIT into the shift bracket easily. after this is done spin the brass trunion on the CONTROL cable 4 turns away from the black plastic end and install into the shift bracket."

"Thanks again for the info, fe

"Thanks again for the info, few more questions (sorry!)...

What is the difference between the shift cable and control cable? From the Shift Bracket I see one heading to the bellhousing and one heading towards the helm (assuming to the driver control). What is the "short" cable?

Sorry, I know this is a pain!"

shift cable goes to out drive

shift cable goes to out drive and control cable goes to helm.
Also watch for cut out operation while someone shifts for you. You should see momentary switch engagement during shift from gear to neutral

Kurt

"Eddie;
You may have the shif

"Eddie;
You may have the shift slider/roller mechanism, or the upper and lower shift shafts incorrectly assembled. This will cause higher cable load and cause hard shifting.

The lower shift cable is attached below the upper or helm shift cable, it fastens at an elongated slot in the vertical shift arm.

The lower cable can also cause these kinds of problem as it gets old and shifts with more effort.

As you are shifting out of gear, do you hear the interrrupt switch momentarily kill the engine? If not, something is wrong.

Rod"

"Cool, I'm getting there..

"Cool, I'm getting there...

Nope, can't really hear the engine cutting out when I'm trying to shift, but it was sooo subtle even when it was shifting correctly that it's hard for my old ears to tell.
I will be spending a good portion of the morning tomorrow trying to fix this. It's GOT to be something I can clear-up!

So is it 6 inches from center of trunnion to mounting eye or is it "fit it in + 4 turns away"?"

Eddie

The SHORT SHIFT CABLE

Eddie

The SHORT SHIFT CABLE the one going to the outdrive.
The CONTROL CABLE the one going to the shift control that YOU use when shifting.


First if you replaced your lower unit only then you should not have a problem with anything.

You may need to inspect the shift link that comes out of the lower and how much slop is between that and the shift link in the bellhousing.

If all is good the you need to be 100% sure that the interuptor switch is not fucntioning when it is suposed to BEFORE YOU GO ADJUSTING CABLES!!!!

The cables usually ONLY need adjustment when you do NOT get shift engagement or it stalls going into reverse.............

What are your rpms at idle?

If they are to high then you may not get enough cut out to break the engagement.}

"My RPMs are 650 at idle.

H

"My RPMs are 650 at idle.

History: There are two things I did that may have caused a shift problem. First I replaced the manifolds this winter (which required me to remove the shift bracket assy from the manifold) and second, I did the lower unit job. I did remove the upper drive to inspect the gimbal bearing so I replaced the gimbal housing basket and then reattached the upper. The shift cable with the roller end looked fine and slid back into the upper without issue.

While I was down at the boat just now I checked and reverse is disengaging fine but forward isn't coming out at all without me trying to travel past Neutral and into Reverse a bit.

I agree there isn't a real reason for this problem because I didn't directly mess with the shift cables, but the issue is present and I've got to try to fix it while in the water. Thanks again for all the info and I'll get to checking measurements soon. If not, it's gonna go to a repair shop when I get home."

For those familiar with the be

For those familiar with the bellhousing and upper unit assys:

I was reading thru the "Mercruiser #14 Service manual" tonight and think I may have screwed something up during reassembly... I think the shift slide on the shift cable isn't fully mated with the upper shift shaft lever in the bellhousing! (Pic on p.4A-19) I bet that's the root to my shift problems!