I doubt it will be worth the expense, but I've been wondering about
improving my low speed throttle control on my 2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport 4.3
AlphaOne Mercruiser fuel injected boat..

It has poor low speed throttle adjustment. It's annoying in the no wake
zones where I want to maximize my speed while avoiding a wake. I've got a
few hundred rpm's I can play with if I had better throttle control. Right
now it's sort of all or nothing; idle speed or wake speed.

Possible? Plausible? Impossible? Not worth the effort? Not worth the
money? Am I becoming a real boater now that I'm thinking of modifying my
boat?

If you have the typical merc shifter/throttle you might be able to make
it a bit smoother by checking the cable routing. I've seen that lot of
them are not very well routed and causes excess tension on the cable.
The throttle is a separate cable from the shifter mechanism. I
fashioned an armrest from wood, covered it with foam and matching
vinyl, and attached right behind my side mounted merc shifter. I have
much better control now that I am able to rest my arm and use my hand
for more delicate throttle movement. Make sure you leave room to pull
the shifter into reverse.

Bryan wrote:
I doubt it will be worth the expense, but I've been wondering about
improving my low speed throttle control on my 2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport 4.3
AlphaOne Mercruiser fuel injected boat..

It has poor low speed throttle adjustment. It's annoying in the no wake
zones where I want to maximize my speed while avoiding a wake. I've got a
few hundred rpm's I can play with if I had better throttle control. Right
now it's sort of all or nothing; idle speed or wake speed.

Possible? Plausible? Impossible? Not worth the effort? Not worth the
money? Am I becoming a real boater now that I'm thinking of modifying my
boat?

jamesgangnc wrote:

If you have the typical merc shifter/throttle you might be able to make
it a bit smoother by checking the cable routing. I've seen that lot of
them are not very well routed and causes excess tension on the cable.
The throttle is a separate cable from the shifter mechanism. I
fashioned an armrest from wood, covered it with foam and matching
vinyl, and attached right behind my side mounted merc shifter. I have
much better control now that I am able to rest my arm and use my hand
for more delicate throttle movement. Make sure you leave room to pull
the shifter into reverse.

I'm in COMPLETE agreement here... this is usually the issue. The
factory cable layout may LOOK pretty, but it is often very restrictive
in actual use. You may even want to try a longer cable to remove abrupt
bends in the overall run.

Rob



Bryan wrote:

I doubt it will be worth the expense, but I've been wondering about
improving my low speed throttle control on my 2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport 4.3
AlphaOne Mercruiser fuel injected boat..

It has poor low speed throttle adjustment. It's annoying in the no wake
zones where I want to maximize my speed while avoiding a wake. I've got a
few hundred rpm's I can play with if I had better throttle control. Right
now it's sort of all or nothing; idle speed or wake speed.

Possible? Plausible? Impossible? Not worth the effort? Not worth the
money? Am I becoming a real boater now that I'm thinking of modifying my
boat?

Rob, thanks to you, jamesgang, JimFL and others for the excellent mechanical
advice you offer here.

Keep it up guys!!


"trainfan1" wrote in message
...
jamesgangnc wrote:

If you have the typical merc shifter/throttle you might be able to make
it a bit smoother by checking the cable routing. I've seen that lot of
them are not very well routed and causes excess tension on the cable.
The throttle is a separate cable from the shifter mechanism. I
fashioned an armrest from wood, covered it with foam and matching
vinyl, and attached right behind my side mounted merc shifter. I have
much better control now that I am able to rest my arm and use my hand
for more delicate throttle movement. Make sure you leave room to pull
the shifter into reverse.

I'm in COMPLETE agreement here... this is usually the issue. The factory
cable layout may LOOK pretty, but it is often very restrictive in actual
use. You may even want to try a longer cable to remove abrupt bends in
the overall run.

Rob



Bryan wrote:

I doubt it will be worth the expense, but I've been wondering about
improving my low speed throttle control on my 2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport 4.3
AlphaOne Mercruiser fuel injected boat..

It has poor low speed throttle adjustment. It's annoying in the no wake
zones where I want to maximize my speed while avoiding a wake. I've got
a
few hundred rpm's I can play with if I had better throttle control.
Right
now it's sort of all or nothing; idle speed or wake speed.

Possible? Plausible? Impossible? Not worth the effort? Not worth the
money? Am I becoming a real boater now that I'm thinking of modifying my
boat?