Shifter Maintenance ? 2003 Alpha 1

[Arminius]

How should I maintain sticky shift throttle control on 2003 Alpha 1 with 400 hrs? Bought the boat in fall but just got it out. Works great but much heavier feel than prior outboards. The shift/throttle stalk is heavy and sticky around neutral/vertical. What would be best DIY fix? May be time to replace or shot of grease, I haven't started on this problem yet.

 

[scoflaw]

There is a friction adjustment in the binnacle as well

 

[Carpediem44DB]

I recently removed my drive and pulled the cable out through the housing to clean and grease it and now works like a charm. May not be a DIY fix if your not comfortable or set up to removing the drive yourself but it really is pretty easy.
Carpe Deim

 

[scoflaw]

Disconnect the shift cable at the plate on your engine. Then you can determine if it's the throttle cable or the lower shift cable

 

[Arminius]

This sounds like a good suggestion. Also, I bought a used copy of service manual 14 on sterndrive units to change the impeller correctly. There is a section on the shifter, its lubrication and common mistakes in cable routing.Before spending too much time on it, I was hoping to find out what the common experience was. Should I be replacing the shifter cable at this time?
************The cables are freed up easily. The shift cable back to the outdrive worried me as changing the cable requires a special tool, a hoist, and stoop labor under the fixed swim platform. Think that would be one for the marina which probably has a backlog. However, the shift cable was effortless.
Rerouting the gear cable to the shifter over the blower hose eliminated a bend and helped a lot. I see a machine screw impinging on the shifter housing which I will cut down. Will check the adjustments while I'm at it. This project looks good and the cables are now less inscrutable. Never did find a friction adjustment at the binnacle!

 

[Arminius]

There is a friction adjustment in the binnacle as well

The Remote's P/N 858690 A09 seems to reference #4000 Panel but I haven't found the correct instructions for the friction control yet. I found a heavy Phillips head screw recessed under the rear bezel but haven't cranked on it yet.

 

[Arminius]

Getting rid of the "shift assist" had a wonderful effect. My last effort at docking left me embarrassed and depressed. I was going to go shopping for a rocket propelled grapnel. I hadn't thought that something with such a helpful name as "assist" could be so crappy!