Stuck in forward

I finally got on the boat yesterday for the first time this season. Things are not working well though.

The engine started right up, but I immediate heard rushing water at the stern. The drive was up so I lowered it and restarted. The boat immediately started to move forward. I shifted to REVERSE and the boat surged FORWARD.

Shifting to forward, the lever was very stiff and felt like it was binding when it's normally very smooth. Forward was still engaged. I shut down and opened the engine hatch. Having my son move the shifter, the linkages on top of the engine looked to be moving properly forward and back.

I have a call into the yard. My initial thought is that somehow something was not connected right when the BIII out drive was reinstalled this spring. Any thoughts?

Yup, shift cable not engaged in the clamp correctly. Need to remove outdrive and restab it.

It could be corrosion in the outdrive. I thought I had a bad shift cable and when we took the drive off we saw the corrosion. Cleaned it up and it shifted like a brand new cable.

No definitive answer yet, but the mechanic is at the yard today and supposed to be checking on the problem.

I had a similar problem with my 240, turned out to be a cracked clutch hub. If you remove the rear cover from the upper portion of the outdrive you can see the shift linkage and at least ensure the cable is moving everything correctly. In researching I found quite a few people with shift clutch issues.

Update: My issue was fixed last week, but I found out today what it was.

As explained to me, when installing a Bravo III drive the end of the shift cable goes into an attachment point in the drive. The attachment point is supposed to automatically lock onto the end of the shift cable. Sometimes it doesn't, but can be locked manually (tapping with a screwdriver). Mine didn't lock. They had to pull the boat, remove the outdrive to properly attach the shift cable.

The mechanic's normal spring commissioning procedures were such that he ran up the engine without the drive attached, then install the drive later. But after attaching the drive he didn't check the shifting to ensure that the cable was properly engaged in the outdrive.

After learning this, the yard owner made it very clear to the mechanic that it should be a basic procedure to confirm proper shifting on all boats BEFORE they are launched. Having to pull a boat, remove the drive, attach the cable, reinstall the driver, and relaunch is a waste of time and makes the boat owner irritated.