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BRAVO ONE SHIFTING DIFFICULTYanother one for the pros here

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wwolff64

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"1988 Formula 29 PC. Twin 454

"1988 Formula 29 PC. Twin 454s/Bravo 1 drives. ~800 hours.

Gaffrig controls (sep throttle and gear) Port side shifts great, smooth as glass. Stbd side requires much more effort both into and out of gear (forward or reverse), but more so coming out of, I think).

Effort is so much now that wife won't operate helm controls while I manage the anchor, sais she no longer can guarantee having strength to pull it out of gear when needed (not good).

Both sides have had lower cables replaced in past 3 years. Side in question done just for this reason--no help. Cable silky smooth without drive on. Zero effort required from helm location without drive on. Manual comparison moving shift linkage on both drives when off the the boat is that the bad drive does indeed require more effort, but why?

Out of desperation and lack of knowledge, I've replaced the shift linkage arm in the drive, and gone through cleaning and re-lubing shift mechanism down to the eccentric device in the drive itself. No help, and I'm out of wisdom, so I've just lived with it for the past 2 years.

Here's hoping somebody here has a clue and maybe I can fix it this winter.

Thanks!

Bill"
 
"Just a guess, but is there so

"Just a guess, but is there some kind of kink or tight bend in the offending upper cable that only is evident when it has the load of the drive to shift?

It may have a dry spot or something. You should run some experiments with the upper cable disconnected at the shift bracket, and see if varying amounts of hand resistance there make it stiffen up a bunch at the helm.

Otherwise, ?????

Rod"
 
"Cone clutch is worn and stick

"Cone clutch is worn and sticking in gear/female cone.................Just did one last week!!

Unfortunatley there are no replacement parts available. They supersede to a new complete assembly.........$$$1400.00 or so. Once upgraded all individual pasrts are available for replacement.

If you had it partially apart as in the back side cover off, if you can look at the cone that moves up and down. There a series of circumfrential groves around the cone bot on the top one and bottom one. If they are all flat and not well defines then I belive this is the issue. the cone gets shifted into the female cone and because the groves are so worn out instead of a "hydraulic lock it is a metal to metal taper lock and very difficult to get apart.

That is my guess........

Someone here can give you a link to service manual page and you need to look at/downlaod service manual 11 for bravo's
The one I did was an original 1989."
 
"KG, thanks for the info.

"KG, thanks for the info.

I'll certainly open up the rear cover (again) when I pull her out in a month or so for the fall.

Was that same complaint that sent you into the Bravo on which you were working?

For $1400, it might go another year or two, or maybe I'll start sniffing around for a used upper, or something. That's alot of green stuff...ouch! Ah well, knowing what is wrong is the first step."
 
"Wow, thanks for that info. E

"Wow, thanks for that info. Even if it's not what I wanted to hear, it's always better to get to root cause, then sort things out from there.

Sounds like I'm going to be getting smarter about all of that over the winter. Looking that kind of $ in the face, you can bet I'm going to have to convince myself (somehow) that is root cause before I throw that kind of cash at it. This is a bit more expensive than a shift linkage lever or rod/bushings...

You've stared at these parts, and I haven't. Any thoughts as to whether or not a good machine shop could "re-install" those grooves on the current gear set? I imagine that's unlikely as they are surface treated/hardened..."
 
I am not sure of reworking the

I am not sure of reworking the cones due to angles and tolorences but anything is possible. if you pull the outdrive off and you can remove the ujoint drive shaft from the upper housing and the cone clutch/gear assembly can be pulled right out and can be dissasembled by hand for inspection.

You will need the special tool to remove/install the carrier nut that holds the ujoint assembly in place
 
"Yeah, and I haven't been

"Yeah, and I haven't been there in a while (and my memory suks), but I'll bet it's not the same tool as for the alpha (which I do have in stock)..."
 
Wow...Mercruiser had a chance

Wow...Mercruiser had a chance to invent a new tool and instead they re-used an old design? What's up with that? They missed a money maker there...
 
"but they made up for it in th

"but they made up for it in the new 1400$ assembly
"
 
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