honda shifting problem

[rusty hooks]

I need some advice from anyone who might have had a similar problem.

I have had an intermittent problem with my 90 hp Honda in that it will sometimes not come completely out of gear. The fast idle lever pops up a bit as I move through neural into reverse. Then when I try to go back through neutral into forward, the lever stays up and won't let me get into forward.

I had a bad experience today when I launched the boat. I backed off the trailer and was unable to get out of reverse. With a 35 kt wind blowing me into a pilling, I was just able to shut off the 90 and get the kicker going to get out of trouble. After I putted over to the slip and made the boat fast, the big motor went in and out of gear just fine. That's what I mean by intermittent. I had a similar problem a few weeks ago pulling into a slip. But the problem seemed to resolve itself temporarily.

I am at a rather primitive marina in British Columbia. By primitive, I mean that the docks look like something that you might imagine along the Thames River in the 1700s.

So I don't have an ideal place to work.

I told the only repair place in town about my problem and they said that it was "definitely the shift cable" (yeah, right). But they can't work on the boat for at least a week because it is the peak of fishing season right now.

I have had shift cables go out in the past. The engine either refused to go into gear or wouldn't come out of gear. But this is different. The problem seems to be related to the fast idle lever. I know that there are springs that are supposed to hold the lever down when you shift through neutral. Maybe one of the springs is broken or fell out of place.

I will pull the control box off and take it apart tomorrow and take a look. Does anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

 

[hondadude]

It could be any one or more of five things....1. The shift levers or lower unit on the engine 2. The shift cable 3. The throttle cable 4. The shifter.
or 5. Adjustment of the throttle or shift cable.

First thing to do is disconnect the throttle and shift cables from the engine. Try to manually shift in and out of gear at the engine. Have
someone turn the prop while you are shifting. It may take a little muscle, but that is normal. If that is ok...

Second. Operate the shifter without the cables connected at the engine. If your fast idle lever still comes up or if shifting feels stiff...

Third. Disconnect the cables from the control box and check each cable for smooth sliding. More than likely, one of them (most likely the
throttle cable) will not slide smoothly. If they do not slide smoothly, replace both cables. If one is bad, the other is not far behind.

Fourth. If you have not found it by now, try operating the shifter without anything attached to it. It should be pretty obvious if
the shifter is bad.

Fifth. Be sure when you reconnect them, connect the shift with a little tension toward reverse gear. Having someone turn the prop
or having the engine running, check the shifting. There is a detent on the front of the engine just below the black plastic intake. Make
sure, the shift detent centers itself. If not, adjust the shift a slight bit one way or the other until the detent always centers.

I know this was rather wordy. Hope it helps.

Mike