Slipping 43 mercruiser

"Ok I decided to use this boat

"Ok I decided to use this boat through this season and work on the carb problem During off season.
But wouldn't you know it NEW Problem.... Do they ever stop?
Please any insight feel free... Be a fairly new boater I'm probably alittle rough on this engine. When shifting into gear, forward or reverse, it slips. Almost like it catches gear, then recatches. If I shift fast from neutral to gear it doesn't seem to do it as noticeably.
Need help figuring out the problem and determining if I'm alright to finish the season or if this thing may break down in the middle of the lake?
Recent mistakes I know that I have made are:

A friend was pulling me while I was skiing with the trim up midway, the prop spun out of the water for at least 5 seconds if not more..( I know lesson learned, I should only drive my boat)

Dumb me when I was docking I came in to fast (recently more that just once) to slow down I would reverse quickly>>>> I need to get better at that.

Thats all I can really think of that is related to the gears and double slipping.

Please any advice and where to start? Thanks for all of you guys help Tracy"

"We all make 'em, my nephe

"We all make 'em, my nephew didn't hook up his main power wire to the battery, had all other wires connected, had trim and radio just no ignition or dash. Spent about an hour+ of good boating at the ramp (not even in the water)

Well "slipping" could be you may not be "quickly" putting the drive into gear, you want to hear a "clunk" kinda, not click click click click, then gear, if you move the handle to slowly that can cause problems with the Forward and Reverse Gear Clutch Dog faces(hope I said that right) Causing wear even cause this problem.

BUT, You may just have a lower cable that is streched and need to be adjusted or replaced.

Here is a link to a great site and pic on adjusting the lower shift cable
(posted previously by Howard Gibson on another post)

http://www.mercstuff.com/images/shiftcable.jpg""

thanks brian anyone else with

thanks brian anyone else with any other suggestions. Tracy

"When your friend was pullin y

"When your friend was pullin you it sounds like he was trimmed up to high if the prop was out of the water. Ive done that. Other than that the shift cable needs to be adjusted. "

"I am new to the boating scene

"I am new to the boating scene and have only had my boat for 2 years. I grew up with an outboard so the inboard with trim is a new experience. I have found that my boat cavitates or spins the prop badly and looses momentum when turning very sharp. I keep the trim all the way down to help with that issue but it still is annoying when pulling a tube or trying to turn short in a cove or some where there are lots of boats. I wonder if one of those hydrofoil things on the lower unit might help not sure. It is frustrating trying to keep moving and I am not turning that short at all, the old outboard/boat tri hull did not do that like this deep v inboard does. That may be some of your issue, having the trim too high."

tracy unless he had it out of

tracy unless he had it out of the water for a good bit id say that it didnt hurt it also like brian said the shift cable needs some adjusting or replaced Robert the hydrofoil will help with cavitating. my biggest concern is you running the leg all the way down all the time is putting more torqe on your motor and this will lesson the life of all things ahead of the prop. there is trim adjustments that will keep you from comeing out of the water

"Tracy,

first thing to chec

"Tracy,

first thing to check is the shift cable slack.

if you remove the shift control cable from the shift bracket at the engine then put your control handle in FULL forward (wot) position.
Go back to the cable end you removed and make a black mark (with a marker) where the plastic end stops on the metal cable.
Now move the control cable all the way to full reverse (wot) and make another mark on the metal cable where the black plastic end is.

Measure between the marks. 2 7/8 to 3 1/8 inches.

if more than that replace the control cable.

If that is OK the you need to check the short shift cable.

Remove the short cable from the shift bracket and push the plastic end in all the way while someone spins the prop by hand Counter clock wise until full forward engagement ( NO KEY IN IGNITION!!!!)
Make a mark on the metal cable where the plastic end stops.

while the second person is holding the prop securely locked in c'clockwise position gently pull the plastic cable back until a slight resistance is felt and make a mark on the metal cable where the plastic cable end is.

Measure between the marks.

9/16 to 5/8 of an inch. Any more replace the short cable.

Before you actually replace the cable look at the back of the boat at the out drive where the bronze shift link and the stainless shift link meet ( trim outdrive up to see this) look at the fit between the bronze "male" end and the stainless "female" end there should be little or no space between the two pieces. when and outdrive is removed or installed incorrectly this gap can be increase by trying to force the outdrive off or on. If the gap is visably excessive use a pair of pliars and try to close up tighter.

If any or all of this does not correct or show you the problem then the clutch dog and gear engagement teeth are worn and rounded off and they may need replacement

Also when shifting a mercruiser ALWAYS shift quick and firm. NO RATCHETING ALLOWED! That is what wears the gear and clutch dog teeth down."

"Robert, depending on how fast

"Robert, depending on how fast a turn you take or how tight and how good the prop is, you will get cavitation. thats where learning the boat handling and such comes into play. I recommend i the prop is dinged or damaged, get it fixed or replace it."

"hey brian, thanks for the tip

"hey brian, thanks for the tips, i have a 17 19 and 21 and they all exhibit the same results regardless, the more i have the boat trimmed out the worse the cavitation is in a turn, not sure why we never had that issue with our outboard but my guess is it is a difference in the hull design or something. my boat is a deep V and just doesnt corner worth a hooey, i even tried a SS prop and it didnt make any difference either. I think a lot of it is because of the weight and push of the boat, i may try a hydrofoil when i get my lower unit fixed, it broke this weekend, see my other post, I am trying to figure out what to do, so many opinions, now some guy just told me that some cable may have slop in it and caused my shifting mechanism to wear out the clutch dog or something, yeesh, I wish i had never asked, Break Out Another Thousand....BOAT"

"yea, trimmed out to far it wi

"yea, trimmed out to far it will cav. and yea, the lower cables stretch and "coulc" cause damage."

"Tracy,

One more thing I fo

"Tracy,

One more thing I forgot in my previuos post

I am not sure what hours and what use your boat/outdrive has seen but the shift spool inside the lower unit could also be worn causing to much slop in shift linkage. Unfortunatly I can not explain how to check it as it typically would be something that would need to be removed and measured."

I trim down as I enter a tight

I trim down as I enter a tight turn and throttle back some then add throttle as I enter the base of the turn. No cavitation problem.