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3.0L stalls when shifting

J

jdl9187

Member
I have a 1989 17ft Sea Ray with a 3.0L Mercruiser in it. The boat is running better than it has in a long time but has one issue. It always dies when it is shifted into reverse. It dies when shifting into forward gear sometimes. Helps if it is thrown into gear quickly and given throttle. Also when shifting back into neutral. Ignition has been tuned up. Fuel filters replaced and fuel system drained and fresh fuel put in. Dirty carb? shift linkage needs adjustment? Engine idles great and runs great off idle, just stalls when shifted in and out of gear.
 
idle is what? 600-700 no more in gear on a warm motor. the lower the better.

And i think your lower cable is going. once they start to go there is no adjusting them.

oem replacement see they have a extra coating inside the cable and are only a few bucks more then aftermarket.
 
Follow this proceedure and if it still stalls you will need a short shift cable replacement.


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.
 
You will have bad shift cable, when it binds it holds shift cut switch to ground longer, stalling motor
Open engine cover and watch shift cut out switch, when you shift in rev... if cable is binding you will see little ball sitting on top of lever

Steve
 
mastertec Tech Mercury said:
You will have bad shift cable, when it binds it holds shift cut switch to ground longer, stalling motor
Open engine cover and watch shift cut out switch, when you shift in rev... if cable is binding you will see little ball sitting on top of lever

Steve
Click to expand...

Ayuh,... Agreed,... Replace the lower shift cable...
It's probably due for new bellows too...
 
Awsome advice guys! This makes perfect sense. I am pretty new to boat mechanics. I was trained on automobiles so this stuff is new. One question. What is the brass trunion?
 
Thank you for the help and explainations. And thank you "bondo" for the manual download! Ill try to get to it asap and let ya'll know how it goes
 
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