Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

Before I get into that I installed my Keel Guard today. Says 30 minutes
installation, try more like 3 hour!
http://home.comcast.net/~ree-yees/guard1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~ree-yees/guard2.jpg

Now to my problem that I have asked about before. The boat rarely will go
into reverse. I looked in my monster Alpha One manual and foun the section
on the shift cable and kill switch.

I put the throttle all the way forward and itmakes the kill switch activate
and then goes to the middle of it so that it is not killed.

When I put the throttle all the way into the reverse it stays in the killed
position.

The manual says to adjust the cable, etc, so I do this. Now when I put it
in reverse it goes into reverse but when I put it in forward it stays
killed! Crapo.

The book doesnt say what to do in this instance. I would assume that I will
have to adjust the forward cable and the reverse cable untill I find some
magic balance between the two?

As a last effort for the day I unhooked the kill switch. I put the boat
into forward without problems and I put the boat into reverse without
problems.

What would be the downside to leaving the kill switch off? How long should I
leave the boat in idle before changing directions when not using a kill
switch? Obviously you wouldnt want to do a continuous motion from forward
to reverse or you would tear it up good!

Thanks,
--C

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

I have no advice for you on your shifting situation, but do want to
mention that your keel guard installation looks nice!

-Jim



Ree-Yees wrote:
Before I get into that I installed my Keel Guard today. Says 30 minutes
installation, try more like 3 hour!
http://home.comcast.net/~ree-yees/guard1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~ree-yees/guard2.jpg

Now to my problem that I have asked about before. The boat rarely will go
into reverse. I looked in my monster Alpha One manual and foun the section
on the shift cable and kill switch.

I put the throttle all the way forward and itmakes the kill switch activate
and then goes to the middle of it so that it is not killed.

When I put the throttle all the way into the reverse it stays in the killed
position.

The manual says to adjust the cable, etc, so I do this. Now when I put it
in reverse it goes into reverse but when I put it in forward it stays
killed! Crapo.

The book doesnt say what to do in this instance. I would assume that I will
have to adjust the forward cable and the reverse cable untill I find some
magic balance between the two?

As a last effort for the day I unhooked the kill switch. I put the boat
into forward without problems and I put the boat into reverse without
problems.

What would be the downside to leaving the kill switch off? How long should I
leave the boat in idle before changing directions when not using a kill
switch? Obviously you wouldnt want to do a continuous motion from forward
to reverse or you would tear it up good!

Thanks,
--C

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

Before I get into that I installed my Keel Guard today. Says 30 minutes
installation, try more like 3 hour!

That's only because you're not a profesional. I mean really, if you had gone to
any reputable shop they would have
*billed* you for three hours, but done it in 30 minutes. :-)

Just kidding.

What sort of adhesive did you use?

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

The hardest part was just getting the boat into a position to do the task.
I have a peice that the boat rests on right above the winch hook and right
below. I had to jack the boat up and take this lower one off. I also had
to take the V clamp thing down below that off cause it was in the way as
well. Spare tire had to come off.

The guard didnt want to stick and form around the two areas that go down the
boat that are pushed out from the hull. What are those called?

It came with some kind of primer that you put all over where you are going
to stick the guard. Then it has some 3M adhesive on the guard that bonds
with the primer. Hopefully it doesnt come off it the water!

--C

That's only because you're not a profesional. I mean really, if you had
gone to
any reputable shop they would have
*billed* you for three hours, but done it in 30 minutes. :-)

Just kidding.

What sort of adhesive did you use?

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

The guard didnt want to stick and form around the two areas that go down the
boat that are pushed out from the hull. What are those called?

IMO, one of the better terms is "strakes".

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting
 

On Thu, 27 May 2004 23:15:01 -0500, "Ree-Yees"
wrote:
Now to my problem that I have asked about before. The boat rarely will go
into reverse. I looked in my monster Alpha One manual and foun the section
on the shift cable and kill switch.

I put the throttle all the way forward and itmakes the kill switch activate
and then goes to the middle of it so that it is not killed.

=============================================
Hate to say "I told you so" but,

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...

You need to get the shift interupter adjusted (best left to the
experts in my experience).

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

Now to my problem that I have asked about before. The boat rarely will go
into reverse. I looked in my monster Alpha One manual and found the
section
on the shift cable and kill switch.

I put the throttle all the way forward and itmakes the kill switch
activate
and then goes to the middle of it so that it is not killed.

When I put the throttle all the way into the reverse it stays in the
killed
position.

The manual says to adjust the cable, etc, so I do this. Now when I put it
in reverse it goes into reverse but when I put it in forward it stays
killed! Crapo.

The kill switch should only be activated when going from ingear to neutral.
AND then only if it needs to. The dog gear, when engaged, can only be
disengaged when the engine speed is LOWER than the prop speed. If you are
going forward at speed and pull the throttle lever into neutral the engine
speed is lower than the prop speed (the prop windmills) and the drive will
shift into neutral without the kill switch being engaged. If you are
idleing in gear for instance forward, and pull the lever to neutral the dog
gear will not disengage and the shift cable ( in the drive) will be held in
the forward position even though at the engine the shift cable from the hand
control is in neutral. The Kill switch is activated by this difference and
the engine speed will drop allowing the gear to shift in the drive and the
kill switch is deactivated.

In your case the shift cable is OLD and STIFF. Causing the kill switch to
activate when it shouldn't. A stiff shift cable can also cause excessive
wear to the dog gear in that shifting is slower causing loud clunks when
shifting instead of a loud click (faster shift into gear).

My problem with the shift cable was that when cold my engine would stall
when going into reverse. After warm up shifting was not a problem other
than I thought the clunk was a little lound when shifting. Eventually the
engine would die everytime I shifted into reverse when the wheel was turned
hard to the left.

I replaced the shift cable and all problems went away and shifting changed
from a clunk to a click.

..

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

There are multiple cables back there. Did you replace all of them or just
the forward cable or the reverse cable?

Is it an easy task to replace the cables yourself? By easy I mean it was
easy to unhook that reverse cable and asjust it so that the kill switch was
activated correctly.

Im not ready to give up just yet with adjusting the cable myself :-)

The kill switch should only be activated when going from ingear to
neutral.
AND then only if it needs to.

So what should be happening with the roller and the kill switch when I am
shifting into reverse from neutral?

I will test out putting the boat in gear with no kill switch but at the
slowest idle speed possible and then putting it into neutral. How would I
know if it came out of gear and back into neutral?

--C

"Jeff Rigby" wrote in message
...


Now to my problem that I have asked about before. The boat rarely will
go
into reverse. I looked in my monster Alpha One manual and found the
section
on the shift cable and kill switch.

I put the throttle all the way forward and itmakes the kill switch
activate
and then goes to the middle of it so that it is not killed.

When I put the throttle all the way into the reverse it stays in the
killed
position.

The manual says to adjust the cable, etc, so I do this. Now when I put
it
in reverse it goes into reverse but when I put it in forward it stays
killed! Crapo.

The kill switch should only be activated when going from ingear to
neutral.
AND then only if it needs to. The dog gear, when engaged, can only be
disengaged when the engine speed is LOWER than the prop speed. If you are
going forward at speed and pull the throttle lever into neutral the engine
speed is lower than the prop speed (the prop windmills) and the drive will
shift into neutral without the kill switch being engaged. If you are
idleing in gear for instance forward, and pull the lever to neutral the
dog
gear will not disengage and the shift cable ( in the drive) will be held
in
the forward position even though at the engine the shift cable from the
hand
control is in neutral. The Kill switch is activated by this difference
and
the engine speed will drop allowing the gear to shift in the drive and the
kill switch is deactivated.

In your case the shift cable is OLD and STIFF. Causing the kill switch to
activate when it shouldn't. A stiff shift cable can also cause excessive
wear to the dog gear in that shifting is slower causing loud clunks when
shifting instead of a loud click (faster shift into gear).

My problem with the shift cable was that when cold my engine would stall
when going into reverse. After warm up shifting was not a problem other
than I thought the clunk was a little lound when shifting. Eventually the
engine would die everytime I shifted into reverse when the wheel was
turned
hard to the left.

I replaced the shift cable and all problems went away and shifting changed
from a clunk to a click.

.

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

"Ree-Yees" wrote
Is it an easy task to replace the cables yourself?

I think he's talking about the lower cable, which is no small task to
replace. There's no rocket surgery involved, but it requires removing the
drive assembly from the bell housing, among other things.

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

Nope thats too much for me to handle.

Im going to try readjusting that lower cable so that reverse works when Im
down at the dock today to see how forward does. Ive found that the boat
seems to act differently in the water versus in my driveway with the hose.

--C

"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
"Ree-Yees" wrote
Is it an easy task to replace the cables yourself?

I think he's talking about the lower cable, which is no small task to
replace. There's no rocket surgery involved, but it requires removing the
drive assembly from the bell housing, among other things.

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

I got my cables adjusted so that I could put it into reverse and I could put
it into the slowest forward speed, but any faster forward and it would hit
the kill switch. I havnt given up on adjusting the cbles yet!

Out on the water I also tried taking the kill switch off. This worked but
as you all said it wouldnt go into idle most of the time. I would have to
pull it out of gear and then put it into reverse. Thats a terrible method
so I put the switch back in.

I think untill I get a new cable or get these cables adjusted right I could
hook a switch up to the kill switch! I know it sounds kind of rediculous,
but I will put the boat in idle, flip the switch and then put the boat into
reverse. I would only need it around the docks anyways.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks,
Cameron

"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
...
Nope thats too much for me to handle.

Im going to try readjusting that lower cable so that reverse works when Im
down at the dock today to see how forward does. Ive found that the boat
seems to act differently in the water versus in my driveway with the hose.

--C

"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
"Ree-Yees" wrote
Is it an easy task to replace the cables yourself?

I think he's talking about the lower cable, which is no small task to
replace. There's no rocket surgery involved, but it requires removing
the
drive assembly from the bell housing, among other things.

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

I worked on adjusting both cables and got it to where it will go into
forward all the time and reverse half of the time. I also installed a
switch to turn off the kill switch. So now when reverse fails me I flip the
switch and shift form idle right into reverse :-)

--Cam

Shift cable and kill switch adjusting an explanation (alpha 1)
 

Cam,

Your doing all these things and you haven't replaced the drive shift
cable? I don't mean to sound rude, and I may be wrong, but I think your
wasting tremendous ammounts of time with your jury rigging, and just
setting yourself up for some big mechanical problems down the road. In
addition when you do replace the drive shift cable, everything else is now
out of adjustment.

I've had the same problem, and the general consensus from a certified
mercruiser mechanic, and a few web boards, is this drive shift cable was
the main cause of most Alpha shifting problems.

When an alpha has problems shifting, the first thing to check is the
distance between the barrel and the end of the shift shaft. I think it
should be 6", but check the manual to be sure. It should ALWAYS be this.
Period.

Next remove the drive shift cable from the shift plate and see if you can
manually push and pull the assembly to see if you can *EASILY* lock
between forward and reverse gears. If you can't do this, don't dick
around with anything else, replace the &#@!ing cable!

The cable is less then $70.00 for a new one and not that hard to install.
I think most yards will charge another $150 labor, pennies as far as boat
work goes.

Or stany on the course and make do with these jury rig repairs unto your
bad shift cable really craps out and leaves you at the mercy of wherever
you are and need a repair, or worse a failure which causes damage to your
drivetrain, or someone elses boat because you can't maneuver.

Whether you decide to replace this cable or not. Good luck on the boat.

Sincerely,

Bob Dimond


In article , "Ree-Yees"
wrote:

I worked on adjusting both cables and got it to where it will go into
forward all the time and reverse half of the time. I also installed a
switch to turn off the kill switch. So now when reverse fails me I flip the
switch and shift form idle right into reverse :-)

--Cam