Shifting problem - Help!

[king of my driveway]

My boat is a 2001 Howard Offshore 250 with a 496HO and Bravo 1 drive. I had the drive serviced at a new shop this year and they used a synthetic gear lube (Volvo stuff) that they said was better than the Merc Hi Perf gear lube. After a day or two of boating during the first trip to Havasu after the service, I noticed that the shifter was occasionally hard to pull out of gear. It began doing it more frequently throughout the weekend but was still intermittent. A day or two later, the drive would not engage in either forward or reverse without moving the shifter back and forth a few times. When it was time to load the boat up to go home, I had to move the shifter back and forth about ten times to get the drive to go into gear. Any ideas on what may be causing this? Would the different lube be the problem? The boat is getting up there in years, so could it be the cable or drive itself? Any help would be appreciated. I blew all of my maintenance money on a used Harley, so I'm hoping to figure this out myself. I pulled a panel and watched the shifter mechanism moving. It seemed to be moving fine at the shifter and on the linkage on the engine. I ran it on the hose, but couldn't really tell how well it was engaging without a load on it.

 

[Instigator]

My boat is a 2001 Howard Offshore 250 with a 496HO and Bravo 1 drive. I had the drive serviced at a new shop this year and they used a synthetic gear lube (Volvo stuff) that they said was better than the Merc Hi Perf gear lube. After a day or two of boating during the first trip to Havasu after the service, I noticed that the shifter was occasionally hard to pull out of gear. It began doing it more frequently throughout the weekend but was still intermittent. A day or two later, the drive would not engage in either forward or reverse without moving the shifter back and forth a few times. When it was time to load the boat up to go home, I had to move the shifter back and forth about ten times to get the drive to go into gear. Any ideas on what may be causing this? Would the different lube be the problem? The boat is getting up there in years, so could it be the cable or drive itself? Any help would be appreciated. I blew all of my maintenance money on a used Harley, so I'm hoping to figure this out myself. I pulled a panel and watched the shifter mechanism moving. It seemed to be moving fine at the shifter and on the linkage on the engine. I ran it on the hose, but couldn't really tell how well it was engaging without a load on it.

Lower shift cable needs to be replaced. It goes from the shift quadrant to the drive. The drive will need to be removed from the boat to do it. Make sure that you replace the both the Core Wire and Cable Casing with the Teflon Coated Core Wire and HD Casing. It will shift much easier than before.:thumbsup

 

[king of my driveway]

Thanks for the input. Dang, that's beyond my level of expertise (oil and filter changes). Time to go back to the shop.

 

[bart@nordicboats]

My boat is a 2001 Howard Offshore 250 with a 496HO and Bravo 1 drive. I had the drive serviced at a new shop this year and they used a synthetic gear lube (Volvo stuff) that they said was better than the Merc Hi Perf gear lube. After a day or two of boating during the first trip to Havasu after the service, I noticed that the shifter was occasionally hard to pull out of gear. It began doing it more frequently throughout the weekend but was still intermittent. A day or two later, the drive would not engage in either forward or reverse without moving the shifter back and forth a few times. When it was time to load the boat up to go home, I had to move the shifter back and forth about ten times to get the drive to go into gear. Any ideas on what may be causing this? Would the different lube be the problem? The boat is getting up there in years, so could it be the cable or drive itself? Any help would be appreciated. I blew all of my maintenance money on a used Harley, so I'm hoping to figure this out myself. I pulled a panel and watched the shifter mechanism moving. It seemed to be moving fine at the shifter and on the linkage on the engine. I ran it on the hose, but couldn't really tell how well it was engaging without a load on it.

is it having a problem with forward or reverse or both if the shift is not hard than it may need a clutch the oil didnt help call nordic monday ask for Bart I will be glad to talk with you.I spent all my harley matinance money on a flat bottom so I know your issuses 928-855-7420

 

[king of my driveway]

Well, yes, the intermediate shift cable was messed up. A seal had broken and allowed water into the cable and shift cavity. A large amount of metal was found on the drain plugs. Drive was disassembled and found that a couple of teeth on the upper gear set let loose. The upper case cracked. The lower teeth got munched and the prop shaft is almost out of spec (.006 I think). 6 grand to rebuild. I think it's new drive time. Time to see about another bank loan. Great.

The shop I took it to said this was normal fatigue / wear and tear. Seems crazy to me.

 

[bart@nordicboats]

Well, yes, the intermediate shift cable was messed up. A seal had broken and allowed water into the cable and shift cavity. A large amount of metal was found on the drain plugs. Drive was disassembled and found that a couple of teeth on the upper gear set let loose. The upper case cracked. The lower teeth got munched and the prop shaft is almost out of spec (.006 I think). 6 grand to rebuild. I think it's new drive time. Time to see about another bank loan. Great.

The shop I took it to said this was normal fatigue / wear and tear. Seems crazy to me.

call me lets see what we can come up with

 

[TEAGUE CUSTOM MARINE]

Well, yes, the intermediate shift cable was messed up. A seal had broken and allowed water into the cable and shift cavity. A large amount of metal was found on the drain plugs. Drive was disassembled and found that a couple of teeth on the upper gear set let loose. The upper case cracked. The lower teeth got munched and the prop shaft is almost out of spec (.006 I think). 6 grand to rebuild. I think it's new drive time. Time to see about another bank loan. Great.

The shop I took it to said this was normal fatigue / wear and tear. Seems crazy to me.

What Volvo oil is it? What condition was the drive in when they serviced last? Usually, I would only recommend to stick with the same oil that was in it, which i am sure was Merc High Perf.? The difference is viscosity or just the oil itself could have caused the stress or excessive wear? once the gears start to go, its all down hill from there

The shift cables can be a problem and do stretch and/or just wear out.

You get it fixed?

-Eric