Chico&Zeus

Searched for info on this but couldn't find my exact situation.

This weekend, boat was running fine. When it was time to head back to the ramp, I idle'd out of the cove, just at the no wake line, I put the drives in neutral to put the bimini away and when I went back into drive... Port drive will not go into gear. Shifter went forward but no "hook up". So I tried reverse, same thing. I limped her home on the one drive and pulled onto the trailer. Yesterday I had the wife move the shifter back and forth and I can see it actuating on the engine bracket (502 Mpi Mag) and I can feel it actuating in the cable near the bellows on the drive.

My next check is to drain the oil and look for metal shavings, which if found will end my season.

Then I guess pull the drive and check that the cable is hooked up to the drive (I've never pulled a drive before).

Is there anything else I need to check? What could it be besides broken or unhooked cable at the drive?

In gear the prop spins both ways and there doesn't seem to be any grinding... it just feels like it's still in neutral.

John the Drive Man

You may have a broken vertical shafy in upper. Remove drive from Gimbal and than turn by hand. Call if you have any questions at; 954 237 0332 and ask for John

Rexx

If there was a broken vertical, there would be grinding and vibration in the drive. Probably just a bad cable end meaning the drive has to come off. I've had a bad cable end up by the motor shift linkage on the bravo cable, but you said the boot in the gimble is moving suggesting it is the drive end of the cable. If the cables were good, you would hear the spring plunger click on the shift crank arm inside the drive...just behind the aft cap held by three bolts. Good luck.

Griff

Does it feel normal at the shifter??? Like the same resistance you had before it did this????

Mr Gadgets

Drain the oil down some and pull the back cap. See if the linkage is trying to move. But remember inorder for a Bravo to shift the input shaft has to be turning.. Not the propshaft.

Hope that helps.
Dick

Chico&Zeus

Shifter seems a little smoother... not a lot different though

Someone said it might be a stripped engine coupler, I put it in gear today and the prop spins both ways with no movement on the shaft going into the coupler.

I will drain oil this week and check for metal shavings... and pull the drive saturday. Hope it's just the cable end at the drive.

Vinny P

I had a simliar situation happen to me this weekend. I am runnning an SCX upper with an SC lower. I keep my boat in a high and dry marina, so it gets forklifted in and out of the water every time I use it. I dont let the dock hands manuever the boat from or to the forklift. This Sunday, while backing it onto the truck, I needed to slow down my reversing, so I pushed the shifter into forward. I may have left it in forward a second too long and needed to back up a bit. I pulled the shifter into reverse and nothing happened. In that instance, I thought that maybe the wind or current had me drifting forward, so I tapped the throttle, expecting it to go in reverse. To my surprise, it took off forward. I shut the engine down, called out for help. Luckily, there were a few guys on the dock, directly across from me, to catch me before I drifted into the docked boats. I jumped over the windshield, but didnt have enough time to get to the bow to stop myself . Lucky for me, guys were there to stop me.
The end result was that the ball at the end of the shift cable, popped out of the jaw of the drive. It was a simple fix. All I had to do was reattach the cable to the drive, but this time I safety wired the jaws shut. I will never again, put on another Bravo drive without wiring that jaw shut.

Griff

It doesn't sound like a coupler.

Probably a broken or disconnected lower cable end in the drive

Rexx

That is a scary feeling when the drive does not do what you expected making last minute corrections. Always wondered if the ball end could jump out of the jaw. Never happened to me, but it makes me appeciate the fact that your shifting might not be there when you need it. Only thing worse is if you engine dies while docking!

Chico&Zeus

Update... stripped the coupler. Going to get quotes this week to pull motor and replace it.

Just read on another site, someone said to grease that coupler every 20 hours instead of the recommended 100. They said grease dripping into the bilge is better than pulling the damn motor again!