alpha 1 shifting issues

Hi, I am relatively new to the whole boating scene I have an 87 glassport with a 3.0 mercruiser and an alpha 1 out drive. I backed away from shore today put it in neutral and the boat died, it re fired and now won't go in to forward or reverse with out killing. I cant even shift it manually in to gear, it seams to be stuck in neutral. I am fairly mechanical and would like to save money and try to fix it myself but know very little about boats, any advice would be awesome.

Maybe have someone shift it through fwd and rev while you watch the shift cable bracket at the engine. It does not have to be running.
If the kill switch is activated each time it shifts, likely the lower shift cable is rusted and stiff. This puts too much load on the spring loaded shift arm (the one with the V notch) and kills the engine.
Changing the lower shift cable is not an easy job, but is doable.

Rod

rod_stewart said:

Maybe have someone shift it through fwd and rev while you watch the shift cable bracket at the engine. It does not have to be running.
If the kill switch is activated each time it shifts, likely the lower shift cable is rusted and stiff. This puts too much load on the spring loaded shift arm (the one with the V notch) and kills the engine.
Changing the lower shift cable is not an easy job, but is doable.

Rod

Click to expand...

In order to check the functionality of the cables and shifting it MUST be running.

The gears need to be spinning in order for the clutch dog to engage in either forward or reverse when shifting into gear.

When shifting OUT of gear, either forward or reverse there is a resistance created by cyntrifical force on the gear/clutch dog.
This resistance causes the V notch plastic piece on the shift bracket to move, thus activating the interuptor switch. This kills the ignition for a split second (when everything is in spec) and allows the clutch dog and gear to seprate.

Has anyone adjusted your cables?

Has the motor overheated recently?

The cables have not been adjusted since i have owned the boat, approx. 2 years, and it sat before that. Is it possible that they could have seized that quick? I took it for a quick ride, parked it, and went to go out backed up and then i was done. The shifter has been loose and kind of tricky to get in neutral since I bought the boat. to the best of my knowledge it has not been overheated. The motor runs fine but just wont go in gear.

Has anyone taken the lower unit off lately?

Not that I know of. The guy I bought it from used it twice in 3 years, and I have had some engine issues and that are now resolved and have used it 20 times since I've owned it.

sounds like a bad lower cable, corrosion in the shift system or just lack of maintance. Drive needs to come of to inspect everything.