Shift cable - can they be adjusted? Or Just Replace?

[JerEazy1]

I noticed that when going from reverse to neutral, the binnace clicks and the electronics (key switch) thinks it's in neutral. But apparently the drive stays engaged in reverse. If I go to forward and then back into neutral it goes back to true neutral.

We'll as a test I put the boat in forward and then Neutral and marked where the lever was. (Black mark)

I then put it in reverse and then in neutral so I could see where it was stopping.... see below. Seems that the cable might have a bit of slack in it... the grease is from me just in case it was sticking because it needed lubed. It did make it move easier. But still didn't disengage reverse.



So the question is - can the cable be adjusted to solve this issue on this set-up? Better just going for replacement? Or is here another potential issue on these motors?

2001 SX150TXRZ

Thanks!

[amahaork]

Cables good for 10 years only. This black rubber grommet should prevent grease gets inside cable. Do not grease new cable.

[JerEazy1]

Cables good for 10 years only. This black rubber grommet should prevent grease gets inside cable. Do not grease new cable.

Thank you. I figured I should ask first!

Oh, and I didn't grease the cable, just the slot where the selector moved.

[99yam40]

cables do not go bad at a certain number of years, could be before or long after.
mine have cracked at the bends and rusted the steel strands inside when moisture got in, so I replaced them.
I never had a cable just get slack in it and need replacing. the ends are hard crimped to the cable itself so what gets slack in it.

disconnect the cable and see if there is slack in it.
I have found motors where someone tried shifting them without the motor running or someone turning the prop to aline the shift dogs, which ended up bending stuff in lower unit and twisting the shift shaft. not letting the motor to find true neutral in one direction before.

[panasonic]

Looks like an adjustable rod end on the on the cable where it attaches to the engines shift lever..

[dray0151]

service manual

https://www.vansoutboardparts.com/se...150x-200x/file


This may be your service manual. Section 3-7 speaks to adjusting the shift cable.

[JerEazy1]

https://www.vansoutboardparts.com/se...150x-200x/file


This may be your service manual. Section 3-7 speaks to adjusting the shift cable.

That's fantastic. Thanks for the link. I'll give that a shot tonight and see if it makes a difference.

(And print that manual out to add to my collection in the garage haha)

[JerEazy1]

disconnect the cable and see if there is slack in it.
I have found motors where someone tried shifting them without the motor running or someone turning the prop to aline the shift dogs, which ended up bending stuff in lower unit and twisting the shift shaft. not letting the motor to find true neutral in one direction before.

Ok - So I disconnected the shift cable from the engine - and could very easily go from forward to reverse and back again with little effort. There was some play in the cable (could move it back and forth an inch of 2) but nothing the seemed too terrible.

Thay being the case I had planned on doing the LU oil last night anway, to pulled the plug and out came some pretty nasty stuff. Not just water intrusion brown, but "chunky" (I think the manuals call it slag) The magnetic plug had a good inch and a half long build-up shavings. Oh, and previous owner didn't use gaskets on the LU oil screws.... so I'm sure that didn't help.

Obviously this isn't good. But luckily the SEI piece is still under its warranty! Touched based with them and they agreed to take it back for rebuild or replacement.

So fixing what may be broke shouldnt be hard. Fixing what caused it is now the issue. The guys at SEI will send back a report with what broke, and it'll be some more downtime on the boat.

What likely causes am I looking at? Shift selector on the LU off a tooth or 2? Or is there anything else I should check before I box it up and send it off?

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Disconnect the shifter cable end at the engine. Move the binnacle forward and back, then back to the middle, NEUTRAL. (the base of the outer cable IS "locked" down at the engine base, correct?)

Now go to the engine. The shifter "slide" should have some marks on that both linkages will be centered on. You may have to (by hand) spin the prop till he marks line up.

If the shifter cable does not drop EASILY on the pins, the cable needs to be adjusted in or out until it does. If there's still a bunch of play in the cable (you can move it in and out), there's an issue-worn cable, control box, etc.

The cables and linkage are now adjusted correctly.

If there's issues still, down at the LU, it may be installed with the splined shaft off or simply (most likely) the toasted LU.

And cables don't fail at a specific time. Mines at almost 12 years, look and work as new.

[JerEazy1]

Disconnect the shifter cable end at the engine. Move the binnacle forward and back, then back to the middle, NEUTRAL. (the base of the outer cable IS "locked" down at the engine base, correct?)

Now go to the engine. The shifter "slide" should have some marks on that both linkages will be centered on. You may have to (by hand) spin the prop till he marks line up.

If the shifter cable does not drop EASILY on the pins, the cable needs to be adjusted in or out until it does. If there's still a bunch of play in the cable (you can move it in and out), there's an issue-worn cable, control box, etc.

The cables and linkage are now adjusted correctly.

If there's issues still, down at the LU, it may be installed with the splined shaft off or simply (most likely) the toasted LU.

And cables don't fail at a specific time. Mines at almost 12 years, look and work as new.

Yessir the cables were locked in at the engine. I would say the cable didn't slide "easily" onto the slide - needed a little umph. But I was more checking for cable binding when I was playing with it yesterday. So I'll do the adjustment.

For Ess's and Gee's I'm going to drop the LU tonight and operate the binnacle forward and back a few times and see if it shifts easily. My thought being that if it shifts easily without the LU, then the issue is in the LU - if it's still difficult then it's the shift rod in the midsection.

Also, I can confirm neutral on the LU while off as well. My thought being this; if the last time I had it out the last position I was in was Reverse, and the drive had been getting stuck in reverse, then when I dropped the LU for the water pump then the selector may have been partially in reverse and I reinstalled the LU in Neutral then it may be a bit off. Probably too optimistic, and odds are the LU is toast. But figure it's worth a shot.

Seem logical?

Thanks for the help!

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Yep... The cables should drop onto the pin W/O manipulating, again, the slide should have marks on it, to line up to. Make sure that's lined up, then adjust the cable.

Remember, it's generally not good to shift the engine W/O it running or at least rotating the prop.

With the LU off, it should shift super easy, with a good, properly adjusted LU, it should still shift easy.

Just confirm everything is in neutral when you install the LU.

Sounds like the PO half a$$ed a bunch so going over everything, as you are, is a really good idea...

I'd probably dump the LU oil, maybe a quick flush, as the unit very likely failed from water, no gaskets, etc. I'd put some gaskets on the drain/fill plugs just to keep Seloc from giving you a hard time as the LU failure was "owner induced".

[JerEazy1]

Seems there was definitely some half-assin goin on. But speaking from my perspective, you get what you pay for! I wanted another structurally sound floating project, and it seems I got one!

Keep me honest on my terminology - when you say "slide" do you mean what i posted a picture of above? or something else? What I posted the picture off doesn't have any markings that i noticed (except for the black mark i placed on it for my own usage). But I wasn't examining it fully.

When I changed the LU oil and the sludge came out i twisted the pump connector onto the vent hole and pumped a half a bottle of Quicksilver LU oil (90w left-over from the dark days of my I/O Wellcraft) in through the top until it flowed out the bottom and then waited for that to drain before filling up the normal way with Yamalube. I half debated pumping a Seafoam and oil mixture in until full and then running it in gear on the hose for a bit as this is a way i used to clean the crankcase/oil on old cars that hadn't had their oil changed in a while. But I didn't like the though of what it might do to the seals. Though that issue may be moot.

The SEI group requires it being dropped off or shipped without lube in it so that should help - and luckily their warranty is listed as "fault free". Who I spoke with yesterday gave me no issue at all opening the repair/replacement order even though i'm not the original purchaser. I'm not one to take unnecessary advantage - If this is an issue that can be remedied, then that is the direction I want to go.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Keep me honest on my terminology - when you say "slide" do you mean what i posted a picture of above? or something else? What I posted the picture off doesn't have any markings that i noticed (except for the black mark i placed on it for my own usage). But I wasn't examining it fully.

When I changed the LU oil and the sludge came out i twisted the pump connector onto the vent hole and pumped a half a bottle of Quicksilver LU oil (90w left-over from the dark days of my I/O Wellcraft) in through the top until it flowed out the bottom and then waited for that to drain before filling up the normal way with Yamalube. I half debated pumping a Seafoam and oil mixture in until full and then running it in gear on the hose for a bit as this is a way i used to clean the crankcase/oil on old cars that hadn't had their oil changed in a while. But I didn't like the though of what it might do to the seals. Though that issue may be moot.

The SEI group requires it being dropped off or shipped without lube in it so that should help - and luckily their warranty is listed as "fault free". Who I spoke with yesterday gave me no issue at all opening the repair/replacement order even though i'm not the original purchaser. I'm not one to take unnecessary advantage - If this is an issue that can be remedied, then that is the direction I want to go.

Mine and I believe yours as well (where the cables hook up to) and actually move, is on a track/slide, which is eventually hooked up to the throttle and shifter linkage. That track requires greasing but most importantly should have a marking for NEUTRAL.

Here's the link to your engine/ shifter controls:

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Ya...ROL/parts.html

I stand corrected, there is a "slide", part #23, but it's very different from mine. (Mine has a LARGE notch cast into the slide so there's no mistaking it's location) You can see those parts eventually go to the LU thru the various linkages..

There should be some sort of indent (take the cable off and feel for it) moving the slide. Once found, that IS the neutral position. You want both your cable to slide on there easily (no jiggling) as well as when installing the LU. The LU should be in neutral and that shifter in "neutral" when assembling.

If SEI is that easy to please, I wouldn't go out of my way to "make it look good". They want it drained anyway...

[JerEazy1]

Mine and I believe yours as well (where the cables hook up to) and actually move, is on a track/slide, which is eventually hooked up to the throttle and shifter linkage. That track requires greasing but most importantly should have a marking for NEUTRAL.

Here's the link to your engine/ shifter controls:

2001 SX150TXRZ Yamaha Outboard CONTROL Diagram and Parts

I stand corrected, there is a "slide", part #23, but it's very different from mine. (Mine has a LARGE notch cast into the slide so there's no mistaking it's location) You can see those parts eventually go to the LU thru the various linkages..

There should be some sort of indent (take the cable off and feel for it) moving the slide. Once found, that IS the neutral position. You want both your cable to slide on there easily (no jiggling) as well as when installing the LU. The LU should be in neutral and that shifter in "neutral" when assembling.

If SEI is that easy to please, I wouldn't go out of my way to "make it look good". They want it drained anyway...

part # 23 is what is in the picture - so we're on the same page.

(thinking as i type) As it stands i know the cable isn't binding proven by easy movement when disconnected. Next is to eliminate shift rod bent or broken by shifting without LU attached. Also, i can turn the LU shift selector while it's off to see if that is bound up too. Maybe i need to get it on the water after doing the cable adjustment and see how it all goes when it's under normal operating conditions.

Yah, i'm not going to pretty it up for them. Just hoping work takes me up to Oldsmar sometime in the next week or so - save me what i can only assume would be insane shipping costs for a trip across the Skyway.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I've read here, the much smaller engines had shift linkages rust out, cause issues.

I seriously doubt your engine linkages are damaged.

The damaged LU, who knows what's tore up inside.

You can have someone (with the LU off), shift the engine(off)
while you hold pressure on the main shifter shaft (at the very bottom
of the mid-section).

It won't turn much in each direction but should be distinctive.


Make sure you grease the splines AND mid section bushing
with the proper Yamaha waterproof grease when assembling, part #36:

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Ya...ING/parts.html



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