Not exactly what I expected

[Baltimore Sailor]

My forward detente is just fine, but my neutral range was so small a matter of an inch made the difference between forward and reverse. So I finally bit the bullet and decided to back off the reversing gear nut about a turn and observe the results.

Of course there were myriad obstacles in the way: the hot pipe is installed so as to block direct access to the adjusting nut from above. :( Coming in a bit from the side worked OK with the angled end of a regular box wrench, but of course I found that spot where you can't turn the wrench any more because of things in the way, and you can't get the wrench on the nut from the other side because of things in the way. :confused: I finally got some extra leverage at an extreme angle that let me move the nut the millimeter counterclockwise that I needed, and the rest went smoothly. I'll leave out all the pipes, wires and hoses that were in the way of just getting the bolts out of the cover. :mad:

I backed the nut off counterclockwise about four faces out of the six, or 2/3 of a turn, figuring that should give me a noticeably larger neutral zone. But when I started up the engine my observation was that while the neutral zone was easier to hit, it wasn't quite where I expected it to be.

I thought that when I pulled the shifter out of the forward detente I would find a neutral zone about midway between the forward and full reverse positions. What I observed was that the forward drive stayed engaged out of the detente, though slower than in full detente; and then I picked up the larger neutral zone nearly all the way back to where reverse engaged.

If I graphed it, the two situations would look like this:

Before:
F[clunk]ffffffNrrrrrrRRRR

After:

F[clunk]ffffffNNNrrrRRR

IOW, the forward range seems to be as big as ever, while where the reverse picks up has gotten smaller, with part of its former range taken over by neutral. I see no difference in the "grab" in reverse, just a later "grab."

Does that seem as it should be? Don's instructions always emphasized that if the forward detente was good only the reverse should be adjusted if needed, and that's what I did. But should I tweak the cable adjustment as well? Are the two adjustments complimentary at all?

Thanks!

BTW, here's a photo of my tranny in neutral before the adjustment:

[Mark Millbauer]

Baltimore,
I just went through the same thing with almost exactly the same results. (See my thread from a week ago.) Adjusted my forward gear one notch and solved my forward slippage problem but then neutral range was very short and the shift lever when in neutral was now off center. but reverse still worked and sounded the same. Backed off reverse band nut three or 4 flats and then had very little reverse. In fact, none really. The shaft and prop would spin but would not move the boat. After two or three attempts to re-tighten the reverse band nut,(not easy on a c27) it's better but still doesn't seem right. reverse doesn't seem to be back to where it was or even sound the same, neutral range is better but the lever is still in a weird position. Checked and adjusted the cable a bit with no improvement. Very frustrating.

Mark
C27 Solution

[67c&ccorv]

What is the red frayed cable in the left side of the photo?

If it is your shifter cable then I think it might require some attention/replacement? Looking pretty rough there!:(

It might be part of the problem you are experiencing - BTW the shifter handle lever can probably be centered at the control housing if it is a Morse type.:confused:

[Baltimore Sailor]

That's the throttle cable. It looks a bit rough but it works fine.

I don't know what a Morse type shifter is, but I don't think I have one. :D I don't see any kind of adjustment at the shifter. Here's where my adjustments are made; the shifter is the big lever and rod, the throttle is the little one. The wiring is gone now, as I moved all that stuff to a new instrument panel.

[baileyem]

Isn't that clevis threaded onto the cable/shaft? You should be able to remove the clevis pin and make your adjustments by turning the clevis on the shaft.

Mike

[Baltimore Sailor]

Yes, it is. My thought is not "how" to make the adjustment, but "should" I?

If I shorten up the cable, does it keep the same throw but make it happen within a smaller arc? It seems to me that shortening it would make the reverse pull tighter, but reduce the push for the forward gear. Does that make sense?

[baileyem]

BS
The cable should keep the same length of throw, but it would be shifted in the direction that was lengthened.....It will 'push' farther on the longer end and 'pull' more on the shortend end. When you go the other way, it won't 'push' as far on the shortened end as it did before adjustment.
If the shifting handle is already reaching its limits of travel, the distance that the ends of the cable move will not change, but their area of travel will change.
In otherwords, what you gain in going into reverse you may lose in shifting into forward unless your shifting arm has not reached its motion limits.
Does that make sense?

Mike