Bravo 3 won't shift
 

This falls under stupidest thing I've done boating without ever leaving the lift. Started the boat last saturday to take it out to dinner. Engine was idling about 3500 rpms in neutral. Thinking there might be a sticking throttle cable I moved the throttle forward without disengaging the shifter. Realized my mistake and quickly turned the engine off. Now it won't shift back into neutral. I Can see the cables moving on the engine when I move it but the shifter will not move into neutral. I use Amsoil marine gearl lube.

From what I can tell no gears are actually engaged. The props can be turned in either direction without resistance. All cables are in place. I pulled the rear cover and nothing seems to be broken. Pulled the drain plug and no fragments.

My mechanic can't get to me until next week at the earliest. My fear is blown drive.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

bravos dont like to shift when not running, best way to get it in neutral is to crank motor with coil lead off and shift while cranking you will need to jump the slave solenoid because the neutral safety wont let you crank it with the key


if you want more details of how to do this give me a call And id be more then happy to go though it with you......

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

Mkeller,
The input shaft to the drive needs to be turning when you shift a bravo.. Like Joe said, you will have to bypass the neutral safety switch. You can pull the kill cord if you have one to kill the ignition. If you pull the coil wire, it should be put to ground, so the spark has somewhere to go. I know from experience that a MDS box will fry a coil in a heart beat..

If it still wont go into neutral, you may have welded the cone clutch to a gear. But as you spin the motor over, if it doesnt go into neutral easily. then tug on the control.. to see if you can break it loose. Not too hard, it could damage the cable..

Hope this helps
Dick

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

Thanks for the feedback. I was able to get my mechanic to show up last night. He removed the shift cable at the engine, put the control box in neutral and started it up and reconnected the shift cable. Wouldn't shift. He played around with it awile and is convinced the drive will have to come out to free it up. Guess I'm looking at a rebuild on the upper.

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

If you can haul boat easily , do so , drain drive and remove rear cover(3 bolts) and see what's going on. Maybe damage or breakage to Iron shift arm has occured. You can see what's happening and look at gears and all from this standpoint... BBB

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

YES it" s true bravo drives are not meant to be shifted without motor running, they have syncros with timing marks that act similarly as syncro rings in in a manual automotive transmission... BBB

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

I had one that refused to come out just cranking, I tied it tight to the dock fired it off let it run a minute it shifted out and is still just fine. By your discription I doubt if you welded the cone.

Phil

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

MOP.. did you shift it into gear at 3500 rpm??

Mkeller, If you feel up to it.. You can remove the top and back caps, remove the shift fork retaining bolts, pull the shift shaft out and then shift the clutch in the opposite direction that it is in now. That will tell u if the cone has stuck in a gear. I dont really see how the linkage could break from moving it into gear. I do see the oil on the cone and gear surfaces being forced out at such a high rate that the cone could wedge itself into the gear and stick there. That is what I meant by welding the cone to the gear. Years ago I had a Merc Certifed mechanic tell me that when this occurs, then you put one foot on the dash and yank as hard as you could.. Well I never bought that senario, but if the cone is stuck in a gear, you may be able to pry it out without taking the drive completely down. If you want further info on how i would do it.. give me a call...

Dick
616-403-1006... cell

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

I would give the run thing a try first not saying it will work in this case, if a no go then take it apart and lap in a new cone.

Re: Bravo 3 won't shift
 

or it could be as simple as a broken shift cable.......... had two today on two differnt boats neither would shift out of gear one the outer housing where it went through the bell housing was broken the other the outershield was melted due to engine over heat