Your thoughts on a throttle control issue with late 70's MerControl

[hotrod53]

My 78ish MerControl goes into FWD-N-REV perfectly and the fast idle lever works fine. When I shift to FWD or REV their is a dead zone for about 1/2 to 3/4 of the stroke of the lever before the carbs are pulled open. I know that there is a cam inside the MerControl that rotates and in turn pulls the throttle cable.

I do not know if it has always been this way or if the problem was created when I removed the control cable from the engine. I rebuilt this boat and had to pull the outboard to replace the transom, therefore I do not know if this was an issue before I did that. Has anyone experienced this? Is it possible that the cable has slipped off of the cam and is wrapping around the shaft? Also, at full throttle my arm is slightly more then 90 degrees as compared to the straight up neutral position.

I've beeen just living with the problem but recently I have been experiencing stalling when the engine is cold as I go from neutral idle to gear. If this worked right, more than likely the problem would go away, the carb would be pulled off idle as soon as I go into gear. Once I've been in gear and run up river, the transition from idle into gear does not cause a stall, that's how close it is to this not even being an issue. To live with the issue I just try to go from N to gear very quickly so that I can hit the spot where the carbs are being pulled open.

 

[haventaclue]

Check the adjustment on the throttle cable but I think you need a new cable,sounds like there is too much play on the engine end.

 

[galamb]

Agree, sounds like the throttle cable has stretched a bit while the shift cable is still fine..

 

[hotrod53]

So does the fast idle rely on the shifter cable since that works normally? I'm not opposed to changing cables if that is what it turns out to be, they are original and the metal spirals show about 1/2" near the control.

This boat originally came with a 9.9, the motor was swapped to 50hp using the same cables and MerControl, they may be too short. They run under the gunwale but come into the floorspace where the make the bend to go into the splashwell.