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Engine throttles back slowly and boat comes off plane

R

robrike

New member
"Have a new Regal 2520 Fast Tr

"Have a new Regal 2520 Fast Trac with the 5.7 Volvo Penta engine and duo prop outdrive. Problem is as you are going along at 30 to 35 mph if you don't keep your hand on the throttle it will gradually over the course of 5 minutes or so drop in speed till it starts falling off plane. If you keep your hand on the throttle it is fine. Mechanic says it is a safety feature built in and you have to keep your hand on the throttle to prevent it from slowing. Never had this work that way on a 2006 Regal I sold last year for this boat. Regal says the cables may need time to stretch, a few hours or so when new but now have 14 hours on it. I understand there is a throttle friction screw on the throttle that can be adjust but the throttle movement is not loose as it is. I can see how a drive by wire system could gradually drop RPM if you are not nudging the throttle but on this boat it is a metal cable with a sheath. Not real complicated. Should I pursue the friction screw? Will it make the throttle movement super stiff? Anyone ever seen this before?
Thanks in advance for any insight,
Rob Rike"
 
"Pardon me for sounding ignora

"Pardon me for sounding ignorant, but this is the first time I hear about you having to keep the hand in the throttle to prevent the RPM from falling. I guess that since this new safety feature has been installed now all the friction-adjustment screws installed on throttle control cables have become redundant worldwide?
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Now, was that mechanic talking seriously or just pulling your leg? Personally, I don't think your mech knows what he is talking about. I understand the rationale for a lanyard attached to your wrist on one side and to the other one attached to the kill switch; but to me, having to keep your hand on the throttle to prevent the RPM from dropping slowly has to do nothing with safety (what would the reasoning behind it be anyway?), but rather with a misadjusted friction adjustment screw.

Now, I do not understand why you have not tried to adjust the friction screw yourself. If the cable movement becomes too stiff, you only have to reset the screw to the original setting.

I don't want to sound rude, but I do not only not understand your mechanic's rationale: I don't understand yours, either."
 
"No offense taken. I too thou

"No offense taken. I too thought it sounded really idiotic. If that was a safety feature to slow the boat down if you go overboard the boat is going to be miles and miles away before it drops to idle (still in gear I might add). I am posting this for my Dad as it is his boat and I am the mechanical one in the family but he lives 3 hours away so I see the boat maybe every three weeks.
I plan to take a stab at the friction screw next weekend but since it is new was hoping the dealer might take care of it. After hearing the info from him though I am not sure he needs to be touching it.
lol.gif
I have been around boats since 85 but this was a first with this type of problem.
I have the manuals and I believe there is one in there for the throttle assembly. I will get the cover off and tighten it up and take it for a test run. When that question was presented to the mechanic it was a Saturday, may have been a way to blow off coming to the dock to deal with it till a later date.
I figured it was the screw but my main reason for asking the question was to see if anyone had seen the gradual falling of RPM due to a need for adjustment even though the throttle did not seem loose in movement.
Thanks for the info and I will have a look at it ASAP.

Rob

PS- He was serious but I think he was their part time mechanic/sales guy who does oil changes, etc. and nothing really complicated. The main mechanic I did not get to speak with. I am pretty good mechanically and have done everything from rebuilding an automatic transmission valve body to pulling an engine for overhaul and anything in between so his answer was very questionable to me. Since my Dad was dealing with him I did not get into it but sought advice here to make sure the friction screw was my first place to go."
 
"Robert, I had an identical si

"Robert, I had an identical situation as the one you describe when I installed the cable throttle control for my 9.9 Yamaha kicker. About 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn of the friction screw took care of it, and it has been OK for the last 9 years (and counting). I don't think you will have a problem adjusting yours.

Cheers."
 
"I appreciate the information.

"I appreciate the information. I was curious as to how much to try starting out. I will give it 1/8 of a turn and go from there. It will be another week and a half before I get to do it but I will post the results. This is a great site, got linked to it from a Volvoforums site and sure am glad I found it.

Thanks,
Rob"
 
"Hey,
Well, I was down for th

"Hey,
Well, I was down for the weekend and took a look at this thing. I removed the throttle lever cover which had a white tab lever that fell out. It pushes the throttle only latch when you push the button in the cneter of the throttle lever handle. I then took the nut off for the kill switch mounted to the throttle plate. From there I got the 4 clips loose for the black trim plate and saw four screws in each corner of a metal plate that held the throttle to the console. Looking inside there was a phillips head screw at about 11 o'clock that had an opening and appeared to be the friction screw. I did not have the manual so I was flying blind. What I did notice on this screw was that it was stripped from the get go. I tightened it a 1/4 turn and it went from getting firmer to just loose. I tighten it some more and same thing, loose, a little firm and then a nudge more and back to loose. I think it has been stripped all along assuming I was on the friction screw and I think I was. I tightened it up right to the point of it going loose again as that seemed snugger than it was when I got in there. I will have my Dad run it some a few miles up the lake and see if it is better. Since it is under warranty I guess they would replace the assembly if it continues to be a problem. Just wanted to update the post from the 18th. I hate posters that never publish their findings, good or bad.


Thanks,
Rob"
 
"Hi Rob. I really agree with y

"Hi Rob. I really agree with you about posting results! Absolutely essential if the forum is to support a search capability.
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\ Thanks! Tom"
 
"re: "safety feature built

"re: "safety feature built in and you have to keep your hand on the throttle "..

Given that this boat is still under warranty, the cynic in me wants to attribute this response to "keep BS'ing the customer until the warranty runs out...""
 
"I have to agree. BS until th

"I have to agree. BS until the warranty is gone. Then we tell them they need an entire throttle lever assembly.
This dealer has a long way to go to get my confidence back in him. The boat is kept in dry storage and I had them put it on stands one day for me to clean it over a long weekend. I went to unscrew the drain plug and the thing was in there finger tight. I literally backed it out about 5 turns with no wrench. This weekend the door latch for the bathroom area just fell apart. It is monday and they are closed which is good cause I would really like to talk to someone and my mood is not quite right for that right now.

I know there are a thousand different throttle assembly levers out there but does the stripped screw sound like something that could happen? You guys seen it before? The screw I am referring to was at about 11 or 11:30 looking at the assembly with the cover off. I had to move it into reverse to get to it but that was the only screw there unless the friction screw is on the other side and then it would be some major work to access. Has to be the one on the outside I would think.
Thanks,
Rob"
 
"Just an update, I just got of

"Just an update, I just got off the phone with the Customer Service Manager for Regal Marine Industries. He confirmed I was looking looking at the correct screw and that I should have been able to lock that lever in place and not be able to hardly move it with said screw. It looks like it is stripped. Will talk with the dealer tomorrow. Hope they will put a new assembly in there and not just a bigger screw to patch it up.
Will keep you posted. Thanks for the initial point in the right direction El Pescador.
Rob"
 
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