Throttle Control problems

My 2002 5.0L alpha one shifts from Neutral to forward and neutral to reverse but when shifting back to neutral it stays in gear until I hear a clicking noise than its in neutral. What is going on with that? That clicking noise seems to be coming from the control box and when it clicks, I can see it on the control cables mounted on the engine move, allowing them to travel the rest of the way to neutral.

It should be noted my 2002 50.L Alpha One is MFI

Sounds like the shift interrupter switch on the shift bracket where the two shift cable mounts is not working properly or is out of adjustment.

When shifting out of gear in both directions, this causes a resistance on the short shift cable (the one from the bracket to/thru the transom) and when this resistance occurs it actuates a V notch on the shift bracket and activates the INTERRUPTER SWITCH. This momentarily kills the ignition to allow the clutch dog to separate from the gear it is driving, in the lower unit.

Also when shifting into or out of gear you MUST shift quickly!! no slow motion. It is designed for quick brisk but gentle shifting.

You should hear a CLUNK when shifting into gear and when shifting out of gear you MUST shift quickly toward neutral because if shifting to slow the interrupter switch may not activate at the correct time.

I agree but here's the thing, I was trying to manually manipulate the V notch by hand but it would still stay in gear until the click. How do I fix it?

I guess a better question is what drives the shift interrupter switch and how do I make adjustments? I know how to adjust the cables and the two electrical switches but how do I adjust the mechanical V notch?

It is very difficult to activate the switch and shift at the same time.......

The way to check the switch is,

with the motor is running simply push the switch in to activate it and the motor should stall.

If it does not the switch is bad.

here is my cable adjustment procedure...........

Trim out drive up 2 inches from all the way down.
Take keys out of ignition!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a second person stand at the prop.
You, remove the short shift cable from the shift bracket.
After the cable has been removed, push the plastic cable end all the way in and hold in place while prop is being spun C’Clockwise..
Have second person rotate prop counter clock wise until the prop is fully engaged and wont turn anymore. Maintain light effort on shift cable plastic end pushing it to keep forward engaged.

Measure the distance from the center of the brass trunion to the center of the round mounting hole in the plastic end. Adjust trunion to make that distance 6 inches. no more no less! In cases where the shift cable is old but still works well you can adjust this dimension to 5 15/16”. NO MORE.

Put shift control handle in forward FULL throttle position.
Remove the control shift cable from shift bracket at this time.

Install short shift cable back onto bracket at this time.

Take the shift control cable and adjust the trunion so it fits perfectly back into the shift bracket.
Before installing it turn the brass trunion 4 complete turns away from the plastic end and reinstall into shift bracket.

Now put shift control handle in the neutral position.
Have second person spin prop, it should spin freely.
Put shift control into the forward detent position at ~ 10:00 position. NO FUTHER.
Have the second person rotate the prop counter clockwise. You should have solid engagement with no ability to continue to turn the prop.

Now shift back into neutral. Prop should spin freely with no clacking or clunking.

Now shift to reverse to the 2:00 o’clock position detent NO FURTHER!!

Have the second person spin the prop clockwise.

If you have positive engagement with no clunking or jumping out of engagement, you are done.

If it does not fully engage into reverse than look at the shift bracket where the short shift cable mounts and there is a slot. Loosen the 7/16 hex that is touching the bracket and move the stud so you are pulling the short cable.

Try this and retest in water under load.

Anyway there are tests that would tell you if the cable is bad but to difficult to type out here but in general if you remove the shift control cable from the shift bracket, shift the control handle to full forward/wide open throttle and make a mark on the cable end, now go full reverse and repeat. Measure distance between marks, (2 7/8" to 3 1/8") anymore and replace the control cable.

Short cable measurement test, remove short cable from shift bracket, push all the way in and spin prop by hand until full forward is made. Make a mark on shift cable end where the plastic stops over the metal.
Now with someone holding the prop from spinning pull the cable end out with two fingers, as soon as resistance is felt mark the inner cable where the plastic cable end ends. Now measure between the marks,
The measurement should be if I remember correctly 1/2 " to 9/16". anymore and the cable or linkage is bad.

Thanks Jack