EZ question....Neutral switch

On a 225 Honda outboard, does the Neutral switch on the motor shift linkage, do anything more........key word "more", than keeping the engine from starting in gear.

Reason I ask, is because I was wondering if it could make for hard shifting from "Forward to Neutral" for some reason, when the rest of the linkage, and binnacle and cables, seem to work like "Butta" when all disconnected and tested individually.

-wasn't all that EZ I guess?

I was told that the Neutral switch might also slow the RPM's down for a second so it's easy to drop into gear and back to neutral. Any substance to that thought?

Thanks,

You are right...not so easy...but I will take a crack at it.

The neutral safety switch does prevent the engine from being started in neutral but it also provides input for operation of the VTEC and the IAC.

So it does has an affect on the idle, but I am not sure about a momentary interruption like some Mercury's have.

A few other things can cause hard shifting. If the throttle cable and throttle adjustments are not right, it can cause a binding to occur and make shifting difficult. It could also cause the neutral safety switch of operate when it should not.

Another thing is the cables are under tension or tied up close to the engine or the shifter, shifting can be difficult. They should come straight out of each and not be wire tied anywhere close to where they terminate.

One last thing....depending on the vintage of your motor, there was a change of the design of the shift linkage and neutral safety switch detent. This improved shifting a lot. If your motor serial number is greater than BAGJ-1100708 or BAHJ-1100340, you should have the updated linkage. If it is older than this, you may or may not have it depending on if Service Bulletin 35 was ever done to your motor.

More than likely, if it has been shifting ok in the past, the throttle and or throttle cable is out of adjustment.

Chawk_man has a link somewhere on this forum explaining in great detail how to adjust. I just can not find it right now.

Mike

In addition to Mike's comments, here are a few more onservations.

In general, I have found that these big Hondas don't shift very smoothly in the first place. I have a two helm set up with Morse controls, which can make shifting sometimes difficult if everything is not in near perfect adjustment.

Furthermore, I have observed that the engine must be idleing at under 700 rpm to get a smooth as possible shift.

If your throttle control linkage is out of adjustment, kinked, or a cable nut has come loose, your idle will be off, and therefore your shifting will become more difficult.

Here is the method for checking and adjusting your throttle controls....

Throttle Control Adjustment
First, with engine off, take off the cover, gently put in gear (do not force it – if much resistance, get someone to turn the prop by hand while slipping it into gear), push throttle full open and inspect whether the throttle lever arm (at the cable cam wheel) is up against the stopper. It should be. If not, before adjusting, pull throttle back to idle speed, put shifter in neutral, and follow the cables to the throttle cam wheel (on top of the engine toward the rear) and make sure they are not damaged or kinked.

At the throttle cam wheel, make sure the adjustment nuts are tight. Measure the distance between the adjustment bracket and the end of the cable adjustment threads. They should be 9 mm on both. If not, adjust.

Back to the throttle cam where the lever is located - measure the length from the end of the threaded part back to the adjustment nut - the open side (to your left as you are facing it) should be 14 mm. The close side (to your right) should be 19mm. If not, adjust.

Put back in gear, and push throttle all the way forward. Throttle arm on the cable cam should be up against the stopper. If not, then you likely have a problem with the cable from your throttle control to your engine, which will need to be adjusted or replaced.

If the throttle arm is up against the stopper, then look at where the roller sits in the throttle cam. It looks like a fat inverted "L". The roller should be almost touching the top of the narrow part of the "L". Then pull the throttle lever at your control all the way back, and put the engine in neutral. The roller should now line up with the "V" mark on the foot of the "L." If not, adjust the linkages until the roller does what it is supposed to do – nearly touch the stopper at full throttle and line up with the "V" mark at minimum throttle.

Now that's some sweet info....hope all are reading this.

I have slick shifting.

But every once in awhile it feels as if I get a slight bind. Of course it's super spuratic and very hard to pin down visually. Many times when docking in heavy current when I have to go from forward to neutral fast, then back into forward, and the engines torqued to one side or the other, hard and quick.

Zero has changed with the engine/ shift cables / adjustment since brand new ...so I believe it could be "wear"? But was looking at my shop manuals and saw that the neutral switch is in there.

Kinda like the hang-up of the pin in an automatic transmission when pressure is applied and you try to drop back into Drive from Park. Similar to that. If I was to use a wheeled vehicle scenerio.

Glad you got the shop manual. It's very thorough, except for diagnosing sporadic problems like you are having.

I would still suspect that your problem is occuring because you are not allowing the engine to get to under 700 rpm before shifting. The other suggestion would be to go through your remote and make adjustments IAW Chapter 16 in your shop manual.

I'll check that chapter. But for almost 4 years I've been driving the same way doing the same deal. And just in the last week or two (between dealing with the hole in the block) it started doing this.

Since getting the motor and boat back, I did a complete under cowling cleaning. Salt-aways, rinse, vacuum and blow dry, and lube of effected areas. It's alot better now after super cleaning. But on my last trip out I still felt a "tad" resistance. Which wasn't there a month ago.

I've cleaned, lubed all shifting linkage parts. But though maybe the Neutral safety switch ($44.00 for a new one) Maybe the chink in there.

I may un-plug it, and Ohm it to see when pressed is it doing anything. If it has any thing to do with possible idle speed, in conjunction with the items mention in the above post. It could be the culprit.

Taking it s-l-o-w and one phase of the trouble shooting pyramid at a time. I'm broke after fixing the hole that this block had due to Honda's great QC.

BTW.....yeah, I'd say BAGJ-1402646 is GREATER THAN BOTH: 1100708 or 1100304 as mention in a early post. And no mechanic has ever mention any service bulletin #35 to me before.

I think Mike (Hondadude) can check whether your engine received the SB 35 upgrade.

If this binding happens primarily when you are in a hard turn, as in docking, then check to make sure you have enough slack in your cables.

You may be experiencing some wear on your shift cable linkages or on your shift shaft. Not sure how to diagnose that issue.

Serial number indicates it is a late enough vintage to have come from the factory with the newer style neutral safety switch arrangement.

Mike

Thanks fellas........all good info here.

as it turns out, just an FYI......

The neutral safety switch does more "electronically" that just keep you from starting the motor in gear.

It's interconnected into other electrical/electronic components.