Recently purchased boat with Bravo 1 drives and the previous owner said that he had just replaced all the shifting and throttle cables at the beginning of the summer. Boat shifted ridiculously smooth first few weeks of use. Now the starboard drive has a shift delay of about 5 to 10 seconds in forward. Reverse shifts perfectly. Port side shifts perfect both forward and reverse. Thinking ok since new cables maybe it stretched a bit, just needs adjusted. Top shifter cable was way out of whack. Got that adjusted to spec, no improvement. Adjusted bottom cable a few turns at a time but no improvement. I just changed the drive oil as part of my winterize and it didn't look that bad really. Magnet on drain screw had a little bit of metal but no more than I've seen on other drives I've done. When I say a little bit I mean just a little hairy, not chunks or anything. Since winterized I didn't get to try shifting with new oil in. Any other ideas? I've read another post with similar issue and few peeps said cone clutch. OP never posted a follow up on his fix. Would it still shift perfectly into reverse if cone clutch bad? Previous to delay and when it does finally shift into forward it is very smooth. I don't hear any bad noises.

I have a Bravo 3 and mine typically takes 1-2 seconds to go into gear - I'm NOT a mechanic - but what your could be experiencing is the drive that goes into gear is at one end of the spec and the other is at the lower end -- both maybe within tolerance but just a little different. All of my shifts have been smooth and never any noise- I have the outdrive serviced every year and no metal or issue with the oil. As a side bar - you probably know this - after you fill the drive with the new oil the oil level within the reservoir may go down over the winter or after running a few times in the spring - getting the air out - all is normal.

Please let us know the outcome

3pointstar

Yeah I'm sure there will be a variance between the two drives but 5 to 10 seconds seems a bit extreme. The drive shifted perfectly for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden started doing this.

Thinking about this some more, does anyone know if you can adjust the shifter cable at the drive as well?

Thanks for the reply, I am aware that the drive oil will go down over the winter and maybe even the first few times of use.

You can adjust the lower cable, but I would not advise it unless you have the measuring tool and know how to do it.

Most likely cause for the delay is the cone clutch.

What he said^^^^

Do you know if it would it still shift into reverse correctly if cone clutch is bad?

+1 There is not much more it could be. Was having the same problem with the B1 drive on my boat until I got the SC drive. There are threads on google from other sites on how you can deglaze the cone clutch and maybe get a few more seasons out of it instead of dropping the 1600 to go with new parts. Good luck with it.

Swap the drives side to side. If your port drive now has a delay going into reverse it is in the cone clutch, if your problem remains on the starboard side going into forward you have a cable or adjustment issue.

Ah yeah that's a great idea. She's winterized now so I'll try that in the spring. I'll report back on the flip side. Thanks!

Rebuild it THIS winter and be ready to Go