Mercruiser 3.0 stern drive 2005

Hi my name is Patrick I recently purchased a 2005 Searay sport 180. I can get the engine running very easily but when I put it into gear it shuts off. Any suggestions?

Ayuh,...... Do ya have the drive down, 'n water muffs on,..??

Without more info, my 1st WAGuess is the lower shift cable is draggin', 'n needs to be replaced,.....

Thanks for the reply bondo. I will post some more pictures or a video on what’s goin on soon.

The shift cut-out switch moves when I put it in reverse but not in forward. Not sure if I can adjust or have to replace the cables. It shifts pretty rough.

This all happened in the water

Pwood22 said:

The shift cut-out switch moves when I put it in reverse but not in forward. Not sure if I can adjust or have to replace the cables. It shifts pretty rough.

Click to expand...

Ayuh,..... The shift switch should only move when comin' Outa gear, In the water,......

That also says the lower cable is draggin', 'n needs replacin',.....

Right. Got the same problem on mine. The Outdrive has to come off to do it, unfortunately.

Jeff

Hello Jeff. Should I try to adjust the cables b4 removing the stern drive. And check the control box. Or just replace the cable. Also should I replace both cables or just the transom cable? Thanks for your help.

Shift cable adjustment.

Typically done when cable is replaced or when someone adjusted it without understanding what they did and messed it up.



Trim outdrive 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. The one that goes to the outdrive.
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 very old but still works well with little resistance 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 completely installing it turn the brass trunion 4 complete turns away from the plastic end and reinstall into shift bracket and install the nuts but do not tighten at this time.

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 FURTHER.
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 detent position 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 (~1/4 inch) so you are pulling the short cable. This will cause reverse to engage a bit quicker. Tighten the hex nut.

If this all works then tighten all nuts down making sure the cable ends move freely and the nuts are not tight against the shift cable ends. The studs must spin freely inside the cable ends.

Try this and retest in water under load.


If the stalling when shifting into forward or reverse still occurs then you may need a short shift cable replacement or the shift linkage in the bell housing has issues.

Either way the outdrive will have to come off.

The short shift cable should move very easily. If you feel a lot of resistance that typically means the cable is bad.

The shift interrupter switch is activated when the short cable feels resistance when trying to come OUT of gear ONLY.
So if the resistance is present when shifting into gear the interrupter switch will be activated and it should not be.