Spotty shifting into reverse.

[Razbre]

Hi All....
I have a '95 5.0L, Alpha 1/Gen2 that at times will not go into reverse and kills the engine. No matter how much tugging and yanking you do, feels like it is bound up tight.
It started after I had the lower end inspected for the 'normal' wear and tear this spring and had a leaky exhaust bellows replaced. Went to pick the boat up and had them put it in the water to give it a test run and I couldn't get it in reverse to get away from the dock, after trying 7-8 times and having to restart the engine each time, finally got it top go in. The dealer had a guy come out and he 'diddled' with the reverse kill switch on the engine, tried telling him it wasn't the problem, that it was a binding somewhere.
They kept the boat for a couple days and said they could not find a problem, that they shifted it a whole lot of times and it only failed a very few times to go into reverse and mentioned a new shifter 'may' take care of the problem. They also mentioned that it would probably be around $1000 to replace!!!! Figured I'd give it a go and live with it.
Well, about a month ago I hit bottom(a rock) with the lower gear unit and had to have it replaced, now the problem going into reverse is even worse. I took the throttle control shifting linkage off the motor to see if it was binding from there and it slid slick and easy, so I think it is more of a problem from the engine shifting linkage on top back down to 'somewhere'. I checked for kinks in cables and the 'obvious' things that may cause a problem but right now coming up empty.
Anybody have any ideas that I could look into without the dealer being invloved?
Thanks all...

 

[Razbre]

Guess not!!!!

 

[Pakmule]

Hi All....
I have a '95 5.0L, Alpha 1/Gen2 that at times will not go into reverse and kills the engine. No matter how much tugging and yanking you do, feels like it is bound up tight.
It started after I had the lower end inspected for the 'normal' wear and tear this spring and had a leaky exhaust bellows replaced. Went to pick the boat up and had them put it in the water to give it a test run and I couldn't get it in reverse to get away from the dock, after trying 7-8 times and having to restart the engine each time, finally got it top go in. The dealer had a guy come out and he 'diddled' with the reverse kill switch on the engine, tried telling him it wasn't the problem, that it was a binding somewhere.
They kept the boat for a couple days and said they could not find a problem, that they shifted it a whole lot of times and it only failed a very few times to go into reverse and mentioned a new shifter 'may' take care of the problem. They also mentioned that it would probably be around $1000 to replace!!!! Figured I'd give it a go and live with it.
Well, about a month ago I hit bottom(a rock) with the lower gear unit and had to have it replaced, now the problem going into reverse is even worse. I took the throttle control shifting linkage off the motor to see if it was binding from there and it slid slick and easy, so I think it is more of a problem from the engine shifting linkage on top back down to 'somewhere'. I checked for kinks in cables and the 'obvious' things that may cause a problem but right now coming up empty.
Anybody have any ideas that I could look into without the dealer being invloved?
Thanks all...

Which cable did you test for binding? The top control cable? If so, I don't think that is a valid test. That switch that momentarily kills the engine is entirely driven off the shift cable that goes from the engine to the outdrive. Replacing the control and the top cables will do nothing.

They more than likely mucked up reattaching that cable. It is very easy to screw up so that it binds. It does not take much of a bind to cause the kill switch to kick in.

 

[Razbre]

Which cable did you test for binding? The top control cable? If so, I don't think that is a valid test. That switch that momentarily kills the engine is entirely driven off the shift cable that goes from the engine to the outdrive. Replacing the control and the top cables will do nothing.

They more than likely mucked up reattaching that cable. It is very easy to screw up so that it binds. It does not take much of a bind to cause the kill switch to kick in.

Thanks Pakmule...yes, thats the cable I checked, the top one as they said that was the one that would need replacing along with the shifter itself but there was no binding at all in that one, . I'll check further into the lower one.
Thanks agian....