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Alpha One shift adjustment

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divemaster

New member
"Just installed a new SEI uppe

"Just installed a new SEI upper on my brother-in-law's Sea Ray. It has a Merc 260 (GM 350) engine & we are having some shift cable adjustment trouble. I have it to the point where it will shift into fwd & rev without stalling, but it tends to grind a bit. I have set all of the linkages according to the Clymers Manual, but wondering if the idle speed is fouling me up. It seems to idle too fast, around 1000 rpm in neutral. Also, don't notice that the rpms drop when shifting even though all of the barrel nuts are within spec. Does anyone have any good advice?"
 
"Trim out drive up 2 inches fr

"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 5/16”. 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."
 
If your idle is too high and y

If your idle is too high and you sdjust the idle screw and it does not make any difference then remove the throttle cable and adjust the trunion to put positive pressure on the throttle lever.

Readjsut to 650!!! 1000 rpms is to high!!
 
"I think we're going to la

"I think we're going to launch tonight, so I'll set the idle at the dock & see if that helps. I have done all of the other adjustments suggested. Also wondering if the cut-out switch might be bad. I don't notice any change in the rpms when shifting. Thanks for all of the help, not used to working on the Mercs!"
 
"You wont notice anything at t

"You wont notice anything at that rpm at idle........

If you continue shift at that high of an idle rpm you will break a gear tooth, just so you know.

Try revving you car to 1000 rpms and drop it into drive a few times....."
 
"I backed off the idle a littl

"I backed off the idle a little last night, just to see how it would run at the slower speed. It was a bit rough, so I'm going to have to adjust the mix a bit. It looks like there are two adjustment screws on the carb (4 bbl), are both of them for idle mix adjustment?"
 
yes was having the same proble

yes was having the same problem with my set up just need to fine tune ps thanks kghost for all your advice the manifolds were new the insurance companys putting a new engine in my boat many thanks for your help droped a valve
 
"SEI drives, they suck, I just

"SEI drives, they suck, I just mounted one for a customer, had to go back for bad geometry in the casting and its missing parts. Explain that to the customer, I would never sell these but people will bring their own eggs to the diner to get them fried."
 
"I just installed a new lower

"I just installed a new lower drive cable. I'm now trying to adjust it to shift properly. I'm not ertirely sure if I have the cable connected to the shift slide correctly. My service manual does not go into detail as to how the cable is attached to the slide. As best I can tell, the slide simply slides over the end of the cable with an adjustment screw on the end but I don't see any form retention fixing the cable end to the slide. I have read that the cable needs to be able to "rotate" freely in the slide but what holds the slide to the cable?"
 
"Oh, forgot to mention. I rec

"Oh, forgot to mention. I recieved this boat form a co-worker for service on his truck. The out-drive was completely dissassembled when I got it and the drive cable was already removed. I did not see it come apart."
 
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