Cable is fine, and I know it sound very unusual, but the cable did pop out of the holder in the drive. At this point I can't see anything wrong with the cable holder in the drive, I'll have to verify the adjustment when I get the boat back from the fiberglass guy. How far it the cable lug suppose to stick out of the drive?

Here is a picture of the cable holder. Anything appear wrong with it?

http://s27.postimg.org/xrbb6zucv/IMG..._192221733.jpg http://s21.postimg.org/taj30ifo3/IMG..._192114474.jpg

YUP - it is worn and the keeper on top is bent.

The keeper on top should be centered OVER the slot on the bottom where the cable goes. Also I believe when it is pushed back in the top keeper should come down lower ( almost touching the bottom piece.

A little greasy but it is 21 years old.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]552892[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]552893[/ATTACH]

You can see how mine is centered and locks down tight.

Here is a better picture with the shifter pushed into the bore so the clasp shuts. I included one with the clasp pushed towards the holder and one away. Should it be able to flop that far over?

Tinkerer, does your clasp turn down on the right side or is it a flat? Can't tell clearly from the pic. It almost looks like your clasp covers more of the cable holder.

http://s23.postimg.org/i7wi4chtj/IMG..._201219127.jpg http://s17.postimg.org/ft9cwfkq3/IMG..._201239638.jpg

HaHa, I don't know how you can tell what you are looking at from those pictures. Reminds me of the ultrasounds the doctor looked at before my kid was born - yep, looks just like a foot to me. :p Glad to have OSO members trying to help, just thought it was kind of humorous because my blind ass couldn't make anything out. :D Not bustin your balls Tinkerer - hard to get good pictures of this stuff sometimes.

Here is a drawing of the clasp that I found with a web search. Don't know if it will help or not:

http://www.boatingwithtr.com/members...eJaws-Open.gif

Friend of mine used to put a little zip tie around his for extra insurance. You just need to remember that it's there when you remove the drive to prevent pulling on the cable too far and damaging something. :eek:

Here is a related OSO thread that has a pretty good picture:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-question.html

Hope this helps!

I think Tinkerer nailed it with this one - it looks like you may have too much slop in yours. I don't have my drive off to compare it. Not sure if the zip tie idea might work, but since the season hasn't really started, might not be a bad idea to get a Merc guy to look at it and maybe replace any worn shifter parts. While he is at it, might not be a bad time to make sure your seals, bellows, etc are in good working order.

Thanks, Dick went through the upper a couple years ago, and everything else appears to be OK. The part is cheap enough and I don't think it will be that difficult to replace. It's not that I don't believe this may be the issue, I just want to make sure this fixes it. I do not need this cable pulling out again. When I noticed the issue, I was pushing off of a river bank and when I started the boat as it was floating back I ended up lightly bumping my boat neighbor on his swim platform because it was stuck in forward. Could have been a lot worse.

I wonder if my wife shutting the boat off in gear then putting it in neutral a couple time caused the clasp to bend since the way it has to pull.