Bravo shift cables
 

I beleive the shift cable on my Bravo drive has stretched. When I shift into forward, drive engages early in lever throw, but when I shift into reverse, drive won't engage until the very end of the throw. Also, there seems to be a lot of slop in the shift lever. It feels like there is a lot of movement in the lever when going in reverse, before there is any work being done by the cable.
Short of replacing the shift cable (don't know if it's the cable between shifter and motor plate, or between motor plate and drive), and cable will be replaced soon, is there any adjustments that can be done in the short term?
This is on a 496HO.

Thanks

There are adjustments that can be made on the shifter bracket on the engine. Check the service manual. I would check the shifter first to see if anything has worn in it. The cable isn't going to stretch, but it could be having problems. Make sure that the jacket on the cable hasn't split anywhere, particularly back by the bellhousing. If your coupler is rubbing the cable, then the cable is probably shot.

Rene

I have the service manual, and it shows an adjustment tool used to adjust which I dont have. I was hoping that someone could say that if I tightened either the cable from the controls, or the cable to the drive, that it would make the adjustment necessary to center the shift throw again.

Thanks

I installed a new cable without the adjustment tool. Just adjust it until your controls are centered again. Just see which way things move when you move your shifter and adjust accordingly. Only thing that I can think of is to watch out for the throttle if you have a single lever control. You don't want your engine to speed up before shifting. I doubt that you have that problem because you'ld be seeing it right now.

Rene

OK, I went through and readjusted everything. The manual says to make the stud on the shift cable 3" to center of bolt on plate, and it was 3 3/4" so I corrected that. Then, I took the shift cable off and centered the cable with the barrrel in the slot, and I adjusted the control cable so it was centered. The cables were both off a little bit prior to adjusting.
I also took the Gafrig control apart, and the pin that sets in a detent when the shifter is centered wasn't engaging real good, and the detent was worn, so I drilled it a little deeper so the pin would sit in a little more positive.
After all is said and done, it feels better, and the drive engages in forward and reverse, and there is no ratcheting in neutral. The real test will be tomorrow when I can get it on the water. I hope it works well, and I didn't end up ruining our day.

Well, now that I read the manual again, maybe I should have left the stud where it was. The manual has you set the stud at 3" initially, but after everything is set, you use the adjustment tool, and move the stud until the slot on the adjustment tool slides over it. Assuming it was set with the tool prior to me adjusting it, maybe I should have left it where it was, and just adjusted the cables.

Phebus, the adjustment is easier than it seems. You need to make the adjustments at the bracket. Disconnect the cable from your shifter to the bracket at the bracket, then adjust the lower cable and make sure it shifts properly at the bracket. You can do this all while the boat is running on the hose so it shifts easier. Then reinstall the upper cable and adjust it so that when the lower cable and bracket are in nuetral the upper cable and shifter are in nuetral.

Now get back to Hot-Boat and quit slumming over here.

Thanks, I'm going on the water today, and I'll see how it shifts, and adjust if necessary. I'm just not sure how the stud on the shift plate effects shifting. I see in the manual, that you move it after the cables are adjusted, and it obviously effects the amount of throw. I assume too much throw would bind the cables, and not enough throw wouldn't engage the drive, but I'm not sure how finicky the system is.

I had a problem with my shift cable once. After I pulled out the cable for inspection, I found one strand of the cable had broken and was causing the cable to bind (at times).