mpottorff

I have a Baja 302 with 496 Mag HO motors and XR drives. My starboard shifter, when moved into the reverse position will chatter and slip out of gear, into neutral, unless you hold it with your hand to keep it there. When the shifter is in neutral with the boat on trailer you can spin the prop and hear the shift dogs clunking, like it is still partically in gear. How does one adjust the shift cable to maybe correct this? My port side is fine.

fastlane40

Firstly,did this just start happening or has it begun after something was repaired or changed?
The shift cable that goes to the drive,mounted on the shift plate on the motor should have in neutral position, 6" between the barrel and the cable end center.
If this is the case quite possibly you have a bad cable.
Remove the shift cable from the plate and see if it shifts by hand while someone spins the prop.
Bravo's don't like being shifted when the motor is not running,turning the prop by hand helps somewhat.

mpottorff

I just just bought the boat and the old owner told me it's been like this for a while.....so I don't really know. He was not real fussy on little mechanical details like this. I read another thread that said put the boat in the water, unhook the shift cable, start motor up and move shift cable by hand. When you find netural by hand, make sure the shift lever is in netural and adjust the barrel so that the cable fits into place. I will take a look at the 6" cable length also.
Thanks

fastlane40

You don't need to put it in the water.Just have someone turn the prop by hand while you ,motor not running push pull the shift cable.
Prop will lock each way as it goes into forward and reverse.

rhinoLX

Bravo's do not have clutch dogs to hear clunking. They use a cone clutch in the upper. I would look at the magnetic drain plug in the upper to check for metal. Not to worry you but XR's make me nervous when strange noises are heard. If you are comfortable with wrenching you can check shifter cams easy enough. Good luck, I hope it's nothing.

Falcon

If you are running it out of the water with the props on, take them off and try it again. The mass of the prop, when shifted into gear, can make it do some funny things.

mpottorff

So I pulled the shift cable loose from the shift/throttle plate and while my wife spun the prop I shifted the cable by hand. The prop does lock up into forward and reverse but in netural the clunking noise it still there when she spun the prop. Boat is out of the water on trailer with drives in the up/trailer position. Problem is starboard side...port side prop spins in netural with on noise.
Also when boat is in water the starbord side gear shift lever will kinda chatter it's way out of reverse if you don't hold it in. Any when you pull it out of reverese or forward you can feel a little flutter on the shift lever.

rhinoLX

Did you check the magnetic drain plug? You really need to have it looked at.

Falcon

Pulling out of gear it is normal for the bumping, from the brass bump rings on the gears that wedge in the shift cam and shift fork to pull the clutch out against the torque trying to hold it in gear.
Is this a new problem?
If the cable is mis-adjusted it may prevent the shift from rotating fully into gear. This would happen in forward or reverse, but not both. It could also be why it isn't correct in neutral. Usually the cable from the drive to the shift bracket is correct, it is crimped on the barrel at the correct length.
There are also some internal parts that could bend or break causing similar shift cam issues.
Someone familiar with Bravo's as well as cable adjustments could get a probable diagnosis pretty quick with a first hand look.

Mr Gadgets

MP,
the bravo drive has to have the input shaft turning to allow the shift mechanism to work properly. Turning the prop only turns the gears in the lower and the clutch shaft and cone. The upper gears need to be moving so the space between them, because the brass rings are tapered the shift fork will hit one or the other and not let it go fully into gear.
The cone clutch is pushed by the fork until it starts to engage and then the upper vertical shaft with it's course screw thread pushes it into the gear and locks it in.
If it is not into the gear fully, then it may get kicked out by the fork cam and be the reason yours wont stay in gear.
When you spin the prop in neutral, you should not feel any thing, just smooth rolling. I would take the back cap off the upper and make sure the detent ball and springs are intack. Start the engine remove the shift cable from the bracket and see where it lines up with the bracket. If the barrel doesnt go back in easily, adjust it so it does. If it was off by much it could be the problem. But I suspect you have something else going on.. Check the magnets, as mentioned, that will tell you if the gears are coming apart.
A common issue is the ball and detent. It may be stuck or the ball broken out of it's holder.. But I would not run the drive until you look further..

Also if the center adjustment (barrel) or the depth adjustment (slot) is off it can cause the cam to rub on the brass rings and cause wear, heat, metal, etc.

Hope this helps.
Dick