Throttle stiff into gear

[Weirdfish]

Hi,

Looking for some help, my engine has always been stiff to get in and out of gear. I recently had a throttle cable break so replaced both the throttle and gear cable and I had hoped this would cure the problem but it did not.

The engine is super smooth to go into reverse but forward requires quite a lot of pressure on the surface mount control box... any thoughts what could be causing this or what adjustments I could make?

Many thanks,
Andrew

[Harper]

Not sure what could be causing this, but what diagnostics have you done? Disconnected the cable at the engine, to eliminate the linkage on the engine as the culprit? Disconnected at the binnacle to eliminate that mechanism as the culprit? Tried to move the throttle cable by hand with it disconnected at both ends to check for binding in the cable itself? Bends in the cable are as large a radius as possible to help prevent/reduce any binding?

[Weirdfish]

Thanks for this... I will start investigating... if the cable had some tight bends in it that caused it that would be annoying as there is little I can do because of the way the cables run, could that affect just going into forward or would you have expected that to be both forward and reverse? Thanks, Andrew

[Harper]

It could just effect the movement in one direction. The cable would pull easier than push around a tight bend.

[Lunchmoney]

Year and model?
Mine did the same thing, twin 03 DF140s. Turned out to be the shifter bushings.
Try this... Disconnect the shift cable from the engine, go back to the helm and try shifting in and out of gear then. If it operates smoothly when disconnected, it's not the cable or how it's routed. I can talk you through the replacement if that's the problem.

[Oski946]

Lunchmoney;
How did you change the bushings? Did you have to pull off the powerhead?
Thanks
SR

[Lunchmoney]

I did not have to pull the PH. You will need to drop the LU first to get the shifter shaft out out of the mechanism. Disconnect the shift linkage under the cowling. There's 2 bolts holding the bushing housing on, they point up. They are accessible under the front cowling, you may need to turn the wheel hard over to access each. Once the LU is dropped, the 2 bolts are out, and the linkage is disconnected, the mechanism is free. You have to fish it out with a series of twists and turns and wiggling but it will come out on the port side. You may need the assistance of a large prybar to GENTLY pry between the PH and the steering to give you just enough clearance. Contrary to what some have said, it can be done in just a few minutes without pulling the PH.