Cap'n Scuba Steve
Active Member
Thought I would share this experience here and get some input. I’ve got plenty of experience over the years working on Alpha drives, but this is my first Bravo drive. Yesterday we were out and I slowed to idle for some really big wake. After we were through it, I started to throttle up and the engine revved a bit (2k RPM) and then lurched into forward gear. I did not pull the shift lever back beyond the idle detent toward neutral when I slowed, so had no reason to suspect it dropping out of gear. But it felt to me like the cone clutch had slipped and thus the rev and lurch.
After that, we headed into the cove we were going to. Getting ready to set up to anchor, I noticed that I could not get the drive into neutral and there was no way it was going into reverse. In fact, I had a fair amount of resistance just getting the shift lever into the neutral position. It would lock there, but the drive was still in forward. I had tried rocking it backward toward reverse and got as forceful as I was comfortable with as I didn’t want to break the control cable or shift lever. Our friends had arrived by that time so we made our way to them and tied off. Had to line up my approach and shut the engine off at the right time to glide up next to them.
While at anchor, I took the lower shift cable off the assembly by the riser and confirmed that it wasn’t in the control cable. I could not manually manipulate the shift cable position by pulling or pushing on it with the tensioner in the slot either. I put it back on and we went back to the dock at the end of the day.
Today, symptoms persisted. However on our way back this evening, I was rounding the corner into our fairway and out of habit I pulled the shift lever back to neutral though the drive remained in forward. I decided to try rocking the shift lever toward reverse again and after 5-10 secs it gave and into neutral the drive went. I immediately tested reverse, neutral, forward, and neutral again. Worked exactly as it should. No hesitation or delay going into forward or reverse. I pulled into my slip as I normally would and tied up.
My theory at this point was that the cone clutch got “jammed” into place by the drive lurching into gear with the RPMs up. The gentle rocking back and forth finally was able to free it and allow the drive to shift normally again. I would of course welcome any thoughts, ideas, or input as well. Happy that I didn’t have to pull the boat and subsequently the drive to fix the problem, but would also like to know what exactly caused it. Thanks in advance!
After that, we headed into the cove we were going to. Getting ready to set up to anchor, I noticed that I could not get the drive into neutral and there was no way it was going into reverse. In fact, I had a fair amount of resistance just getting the shift lever into the neutral position. It would lock there, but the drive was still in forward. I had tried rocking it backward toward reverse and got as forceful as I was comfortable with as I didn’t want to break the control cable or shift lever. Our friends had arrived by that time so we made our way to them and tied off. Had to line up my approach and shut the engine off at the right time to glide up next to them.
While at anchor, I took the lower shift cable off the assembly by the riser and confirmed that it wasn’t in the control cable. I could not manually manipulate the shift cable position by pulling or pushing on it with the tensioner in the slot either. I put it back on and we went back to the dock at the end of the day.
Today, symptoms persisted. However on our way back this evening, I was rounding the corner into our fairway and out of habit I pulled the shift lever back to neutral though the drive remained in forward. I decided to try rocking the shift lever toward reverse again and after 5-10 secs it gave and into neutral the drive went. I immediately tested reverse, neutral, forward, and neutral again. Worked exactly as it should. No hesitation or delay going into forward or reverse. I pulled into my slip as I normally would and tied up.
My theory at this point was that the cone clutch got “jammed” into place by the drive lurching into gear with the RPMs up. The gentle rocking back and forth finally was able to free it and allow the drive to shift normally again. I would of course welcome any thoughts, ideas, or input as well. Happy that I didn’t have to pull the boat and subsequently the drive to fix the problem, but would also like to know what exactly caused it. Thanks in advance!
