any body have any ideas as to what would cause a bravo drive to stick in reverse? i was loading boat backed up a little to get straight went to shift in to forwaed and felt the ****er get easy but still stuck in reverse,
.It seams as the lever is moving the cable that goes to lower unit but still stuck could it be the cable into the lower unit or what

that is supposed to be shifter not ****er

Was a service update a while back to replace a cheap piece of crap clip that holds the cable onto the "****er".

Pull the back cover and look to see if the cable clip broke. Also the arm itself on the shift shaft can break. With the back cover off, you can see all you need to see to determine the problem.

Sounds like it's the piece that connects the cable to the shift fork. either the clip or the cast alum lever. Both are cheap.

The same thing happened to me last fall. Problem was in the outdrive. It ended up being the shift linkage assembly(ball-detent).

Wishful thinking. That happened to me at the SOS races last August in Sarasota. Stopped to talk to one of my sector captains, put the shifters in forward, and started doing circles. The port drive was stuck in reverse. We all thought it was a shift cable, whatever problem. Turned out to be the welded ring that allows the clutch clone to slide in and out in order to change gears broke and slid down. Didn't do any other damage, it just broke off. I thought great, just replace that. WRONG... You can't even buy the damn thing. It comes from Mercruiser as a "preassembled unit". In other words the whole friggin top gear assembly. So, two thousand dollars later, my outdrive shifted properly. Maybe you'll be luckier than I was. Keep us posted, I'm curious how you make out.

I always zip tie the detent that holds the cable end. Use a small zip tied and trim the excess.

what mcollinstn said... slight possibility that it could be the cones that are pressed onto the gear, but I highly doubt it (especially if your shifter moves like you described) Would probably jam if the cone came off. Just pull the back cover off the drive, the crimped end probably pulled out of the shifter linkage. If that's the case, you usually have to loosen the drive, moving it back enough to expose the gator clip. Make sure you pull drive far enough to disengage the oriface/ tube from the check that supplies the drive lube / reservoir or it will leak everywhere. Place shifter in forward to expose max length of cable from transom housing. Might need a pair of needle nose to grasp shifter linkage in drive and pull out of bore. This is reverse. Now reconnect cable and slide drive back in while pushing shifter linkage/ cable into the drive housing (This will lock it shut) Don't force drive on or you will bend cable. Shift back into neutral EASILY. Reinstall drive. This should get you the idea. Also helps to have two hands to shift boat while installing drive

whew! Sorry so long winded. Really a lot EASIER than it really sounds
Zack

same thing happened to me - it was the lower shift cable- it had rubbed a hole in the side and when I put it in reverse the inner part of the cable just pushed out the hole instead of pushing on the shift lever in the drive.
Look down next to the drive coupling on the back of the motor and see if the black shift cable is rubbing on it.
If it has been put it in reverse and see if the inner cable spits out the side.

You guys were a lot luckier than I was.