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Pulling hard in reverse damaged boat

J

jeff.williams

New member
Earlier today I was trying to help a neighbor whose dock has ended up partially on shore due to lake levels dropping. I hooked a tow strap up to the front of my boat (2002 Crownline 225 bowrider with Mercruiser inboard and alpha one outdrive) and attached it to the dock. I was pulling in reverse pretty hard and making some headway in moving the dock off the shore. After a few minutes of pulling the engine died and wouldn't restart. I was able to jump start the engine but then discovered the following issues:
1. When shifting into reverse the engine dies quickly.
2. When shifting into forward I hear a grinding noise and the boat never shifts into gear. the grinding noise is the same noise I often hear for a few seconds when shifting from neutral to forward. It's not a horrible grinding noise, just kind of a light grinding, but a grinding none the less.

In several forums I have read it is suggested that the shifting cables may need adjustment/replacement for similar symptoms. But I am thinking something more severe happened as a result of my pulling really hard in reverse. Thanks for any ideas you may have.
 
Shifting should be done with a QUICK firm motion.-----Do not ease it into gear.-----Step #1 is to check gear oil for metal bits.----Why did you tow in reverse ?
 
With heavy load reversing may have damaged the clutch dog and/or alpha shift spool or worse case the housing too as it's not really recommended to reverse using a high load like the forward gear gets 'due to design weakness points in most stern drives if not re-designed to handle it.

The following are of some other guides to know of design wise,

Accidentally Put Boat In Reverse While Driving? - Born Again Boating

When running a boat. Things can pop up in the water in the way at any moment! And our first reaction is to pull out of gear. But. If You Accidentally Go Too Far And Put Boat In Reverse While Driving: If you have an inboard with specific transmissions, you will be ok. If you
www.bornagainboating.com www.bornagainboating.com


As mentioned, you'll probably have to pull the boat out of the water and drain the gear oil to check for metal debris.
 
racerone said:
Shifting should be done with a QUICK firm motion.-----Do not ease it into gear.-----Step #1 is to check gear oil for metal bits.----Why did you tow in reverse ?
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Thanks for the reply. I pulled in reverse 1. I felt the trailer strap/hook ring on the front of the boat was stronger than what I have on the stern, and 2, so I could see better what was happening with the dock.
 
Fun Times said:
With heavy load reversing may have damaged the clutch dog and/or alpha shift spool or worse case the housing too as it's not really recommended to reverse using a high load like the forward gear gets 'due to design weakness points in most stern drives if not re-designed to handle it.

The following are of some other guides to know of design wise,

Accidentally Put Boat In Reverse While Driving? - Born Again Boating

When running a boat. Things can pop up in the water in the way at any moment! And our first reaction is to pull out of gear. But. If You Accidentally Go Too Far And Put Boat In Reverse While Driving: If you have an inboard with specific transmissions, you will be ok. If you
www.bornagainboating.com www.bornagainboating.com


As mentioned, you'll probably have to pull the boat out of the water and drain the gear oil to check for metal debris.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link to the video; that was really helpful
 
Live n learn. I hope there's nothing wrong that an adjustment can't fix. But perhaps next time use the boat to take an anchor out. Drop the anchor and then winch the dock back into position. Recover anchor. No harm to boat and worst case you lose an anchor but if you put a bouy marker on it first before chucking it over the side you should be able to get it even if the line parts.
 
Thanks all. Based on your input I began to feel that I could probably get the boat to go in to forward. I had no way to really do any work on the outdrive with the boat sitting in the water, and towing the boat to a marina was going to be difficult. Long story short, with some experimenting I was able to get the boat in forward gear and limped back to my lift. Will leave the boat there until I have some time to get it on a trailer and in my garage. I will give it a thorough work over and hopefully have it back in the water in no time. Thanks again.
 
Fun Times said:
With heavy load reversing may have damaged the clutch dog and/or alpha shift spool or worse case the housing too as it's not really recommended to reverse using a high load like the forward gear gets 'due to design weakness points in most stern drives if not re-designed to handle it.

The following are of some other guides to know of design wise,

Accidentally Put Boat In Reverse While Driving? - Born Again Boating

When running a boat. Things can pop up in the water in the way at any moment! And our first reaction is to pull out of gear. But. If You Accidentally Go Too Far And Put Boat In Reverse While Driving: If you have an inboard with specific transmissions, you will be ok. If you
www.bornagainboating.com www.bornagainboating.com


As mentioned, you'll probably have to pull the boat out of the water and drain the gear oil to check for metal debris.


It sounds like you may have damaged the shift cables or the outdrive when pulling hard on the dock. The engine dying in reverse and the grinding noise in forward gear suggest potential issues with the gears or alignment. I recommend having a mechanic inspect the outdrive and cables to avoid further damage. Good luck! I recently used https://liahelp.com for help with a particularly tough essay, and I’m so impressed with the results! The writer assigned to me followed all my instructions perfectly, and the paper was well-researched and well-written. I received it a day before the deadline, which gave me time to review it. This service is fantastic for students who need a bit of extra help managing their workload, and I’ll definitely use them again.
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Thank you so much for sharing the video. I have an old 79 StarCraft with the mercruiser engine and drive that I bought used about 20 years ago and still have it, I was just learning and didn’t realize that the previous owner had simply disconnected the cut off switch, so for the first few years I had the idle really low to work or I had to shut the engine off to get out of gear, after that I hooked the switch back up, wow what a difference, with your advise I just replaced the shift cable and shift shaft seal the engine was really out of alignment too, what I understand that no one makes a direct replacement cut out switch anymore, I don’t know if that’s true.
 
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