Hard shift after water pump

[FabricGATOR]

Hard shift after water pump on a 150txrd

Good morning folks,

I "helped" a neighbor with a water pump on his 2005 150hp and there was a can of beer involved. Somewhere along the lines we never climbed back up the transom to ops check the throttle/shift lever.

I received a telephone call from my neighbor some hundred miles away explaining how the throttle control, while working, that it was hard to shift into forward and back into neutral. I'm unsure about reverse, if the condition is similar.

An aside, my vessel with twin sx/lx150txry. I am also experiencing hard shifting on one of my engines.

Does anyone have any idea what it is that I am doing wrong?

[robert graham]

Best not to shift gears with the motor turned off to avoid damage to lower unit shifting mechanism.....also, gears may shift more easily with motor running...

[FabricGATOR]

Thank you RobertG, for your reply.

The engine was/is running and it was noted that just after we replaced the waterpump kit, that it suddenly became hard to shift into gear and hard to pull back into neutral.

I do not think I did this, but the only thing I can imagine is that possibly I got a slug of grease in the shift shaft coupling spline and it is causing hydraulic pressure in that coupling.

The boat is over a hundred miles away in the Florida Keys at this time, so I am trying to diagnosis/advise my neighbor long distance.

[fairdeal]

Something is awry, but the simple answer is, just drop the LU and try again;

make sure both are in neutral for installation

[FabricGATOR]

Yes, I agree FairDeal. Alas if only it wasn't a hundred miles South...

I am only half a mechanic but twice the mechanic he is!

[robert graham]

Don't suppose your buddy tightened that throttle fiction screw on the control?...might be worth checking that screw...

[FabricGATOR]

I doubt it, he has a single 704 binnacle. He doesn't do weird stuff like that I know of... at least not yet.

Thank you for continuing to x-shoot from your desk Robert.

I has to be something simple, and overlooked. I thought about if the pitot hose could have taken a wrap somehow and that rubber on steel shaft friction.... but, no, I think I would have had to work real hard to do something like that, if at all possible...

[FabricGATOR]

So nobody has had this happen?

I seem to be compelled to do something that causes this. I really am curious what it is that I have done because I believe that I did it to my boat last year and again to my neighbor just a few weeks ago.

I chunked out $400 to replace all my control cables thinking that it must be that, only to have the Teleflex Supreme cables offer the same hard shifting performance.

[panasonic]

So your neighbors boat shifted OK before you removed the LU? If so, I would think that it is going to have to be removed again as the shift linkage can't have gone back together right....

[FabricGATOR]

Yeah, not only will I not let anyone work on my boat because I want it fixed right, dependable, seaworthy, etc...

...but now, I won't work on anyone else's boat for the same reason!

I need to find a new line of work.

I h8 when they come back dissatisfied. The whole perception of the service often pivots upon the white elephant.

A pilot can fight his way through thunder storms, heavy traffic, sketchy equipment and unruly passengers and his skill will most likely be rated on the landing.

[99yam40]

only thing I can think of it something binding the shift shaft or linkage to the shift shaft.

Disconnect cable and see if it( motor) can be shifted by hand easy.
strange how it happened to 2 motors you worked on tho

I replace the water pump and stat on my brothers C60 , and noticed the lower clicking in neutral.
adjusted the linkage and made it worse.
ended up taking the lower apart to replace the shift shaft and the pin thru the prop shaft and clutch dog because someone had twisted/bent them and tried to cover it by miss adjusting the shift cable/linkage.
some times you cannot win.
let us know if you find out what the problem turns out to be. never heard of this before

[FabricGATOR]

I just spoke with him and while the boat is still a hundred nautical south, he has returned for a few days of local business appointments.

He did say that it has gotten better with exercise.
(that, or he is getting stronger from the extra effort required to use his boat while on vacation)

I am big on returning to post the results and final conclusion. I hate when folks ask a bunch of questions, get their boat, car, lawnmower working and never post what made it go vroom...

And thank you all for your support and suggestions. Much appreciated.

[FabricGATOR]

On that note... I did ask about uneven fuel burn between my twin 150's and got some great feedback and suggestions.

I have not forgotten and have also not had the time to investigate further. The few times I went out I just let it burn the extra two gallons for that hour or two. Ill get around to roping that doggy here soon.

[HMBJack]

My guess is when putting the lower back on, you unintentionally bent the shift shaft.

Easy to do if the splines aren't lined up perfectly and you torque on those 14mm bolts when re-installing.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

The LU should have slipped on and seated EASILY W/O any force...

If it went that way, it wouldn't have bent anything...

Agreed thou, about the only thing (short of previous damage internally)
is the shifter/ shifter shaft moved upon installation...


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