Final Problem - No Reverse....

[300EVIL]

Okay, Everything runs great now. I've played with the linkages to get forward to engage before the throttle kicks in and I got it to react like butter. You don't even hear a clunk much less a BANG.

However, I'm still having a hard time with reverse. My uncle informed me he lost reverse about 2 years before he stopped using the boat. I checked the shifter linkage in the back cover of the outdrive and it does indeed still work but I think I have a problem with my shift lever mechanism or the cable.

Here is a picture of the shifter in question...

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t321/hightechstuff2/My%20Donzi/DSC_0160.jpg

When the shifter begins engaging forward, the cable is stiff and reacts quickly, However, when I start engaging reverse the linkage on the shifter becomes sloppy and you can pull the cable in and out about a half an inch. I'm not sure if this is a feature built into the shifter for some reason, but there is no way I cannot get reverse to engage without the engine screaming at 3K.

So,,,, How would I go about looking into this problem? I'm pretty sure it's the Morse shifter and not the cable. There is a spring in the shifter unit that was quite rusted and doesn't seem to do anything, even after freeing it up. Maybe that has something to do with it. I tried a number of adjustments but I still can't get the slop pulled out of reverse.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Adam

[mrfixxall]

one end of your cable is missing the nut to move the cable in either direction with out the slop in the cable,,,each end should be double nutted,,come to think of it the fitting the cable end goes into should be threaded and the nut should be tightened to keep the cable from turning inside the cable housing...

the throttle cable at the carburetor should not be threaded,,it should be drilled out and just one side should have a nut on it..so basically the threaded part of the cable should slide through it,,it should be this way because the throttle will open when you are putting it into gear and it will rev the engine when doing so if it were threaded and lock nutted..

[maddad]

Morse makes a small spring loaded connector for the throttle end that lets the throttle cable move about 3/16" before actually adding throttle just for this situation.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Adam,
I think the spring you mentioned is there to push a ball bearing which lets you know when the throttle has reached the neutral position. It should "snap" and hold the neutral position until you go forward or reverse which overrides the tension as long as the neutral detent button is not pulled out (throttle only). You might try to disconnect the shifter cable at the throttle and make sure the engagement arm is working properly with almost no slop by going from forward to reverse while holding the arm to test for slop. If there is slop, you can take the shifter out and disassemble it. It is fairly easy to see how the mechanisms work and you can figure out the solution. This would be a good opportunity to grease the inside moving parts. Hope this helps. Bill

[mattyboy]

just spent the day adjusting my drive it had reverse on the bench but once on the boat with the cable connected it lost reverse.

first disconnect the shift cable at the drive, test by hand, moving the flange, then test the drive to see when it engages. then adjust the linkage . the shifter should have 3 notches one fwd one nuetral one reverse . nuetral is straight up , the fwd notch is like 10 degrees fwd this should engage the drive but not activate the throttle, same for reverse. once you advance past the notch in fwd or reverse the throttle then kicks in.

[MOP]

At the shifter which hole is the cable in? If it is not in the outer hole it may not have enough throw to engage both forward and reverse. Also if the shift shoe has worn you may need to add shims under that attaching bolt, many folks don't even know about shimming the shoe. Adding shims under the bolt head moves the shoe deeper into the cones land, most of the time it only takes a few thousands to correct the issue. The job is simple but finding the shims can be a pain, you will need an old Volvo dealer most of which have been posted up here.

Phil