Having trouble getting a 1990 115hp in reverse.

[Creepin_D]

First off, this post may get a bit winded while I try to explain my situation..so sorry in advance.

I have a 1990 Yamaha 115hp outboard and a Yamaha 703 Remote Control Box. Sometimes the motor will go in reverse and most times it will not.

When it will not go in reverse it makes a "grinding" noise because the "teeth" are not meshing. When I turn off my motor and put my control arm on my control box full forward and full reverse, then put it back in netureal and start the motor, it sometimes will go in reverse, but not all the time.

Also, when I shut the motor off and turn the prop with my hand, you can feel a "click", like the motor is not fully in netureal. This problem is solved by moving the control arm back towards the reverse postion maybe an inch.

I am thinking that it make be a linkage issue or maybe the control cable has to be adjusted. Can anyone tell me if indeed this is my problem, and if so where and how do I make the adjustments.

Thanks​

 

[Chris]

Welcome aboard Creepin - nice to have you with us.

I'm not sure if you have an owner's manual or not, but if you do that will probably be a big help.

Once you get it into gear, does it stay there? Or does it sometimes jump out or into gear?

I ask as there is typically a clutch dog in your lower unit that can sometimes crack, break etc and that can sometimes cause issues similar to what you're describing. Basically what the clutch dog does, is that it shifts from front to back which locks the lower unit either into forward or reverse. When they go bad, sometimes they don't lock properly and then you'll sometimes get a situation where the dog doesn't lock the gears properly.

I would think the other thing to check, would be to see if there is actually an issue in your control box that might be causing you isssues. With the motor off, have you tried looking at the linkage under the cowel while someone else shifts the motor in and out of gear? I would look to make sure that the shift mechanism is working properly.

Hopefully that's a bit of a help, let us know how you make out.

-Chris

 

[Creepin_D]

Hey Chris,

The motor stays in reverse once I get it in gear. I should have mention that before. I will take a look at those things you told me to look at.

In the mean time, is there any adjustment on the linkage or cables that could be causing the problem? This is my first boat, so it is all pretty new to me.

Also, I ordered a owners manual online today...should have it next week with any luck.

Thanks

Welcome aboard Creepin - nice to have you with us.

I'm not sure if you have an owner's manual or not, but if you do that will probably be a big help.

Once you get it into gear, does it stay there? Or does it sometimes jump out or into gear?

I ask as there is typically a clutch dog in your lower unit that can sometimes crack, break etc and that can sometimes cause issues similar to what you're describing. Basically what the clutch dog does, is that it shifts from front to back which locks the lower unit either into forward or reverse. When they go bad, sometimes they don't lock properly and then you'll sometimes get a situation where the dog doesn't lock the gears properly.

I would think the other thing to check, would be to see if there is actually an issue in your control box that might be causing you isssues. With the motor off, have you tried looking at the linkage under the cowel while someone else shifts the motor in and out of gear? I would look to make sure that the shift mechanism is working properly.

Hopefully that's a bit of a help, let us know how you make out.

-Chris

 

[Chris]

Have you tried pulling the cowel and looking at where the contol box cables hook up? One cable will be for the throttle and one will be for the shift mechanism. It should be pretty obvious once the cowel is off.

Typically how the system works, is that the shift cable will hook up to a shift rod that runs from the powerhead area down to the lower unit through the leg. That shift rod will snap back and forth to shift the gears from neutral to forward to reverse. So typically you snap one way and it's in forward, then snap it the other way and it's in reverse, when it's in the middle it's in neutral.

On the lower unit end what happens, is that as that rod shifts each way, what you'll have is a bearing carrier that slides back and forth on the prop shaft, that carrier moves a gear set from the back to the front set of gears and vice-versa. And all of that actuation is all driven by that shift rod that travels up to the power head area. When the gear set is in one direction, your lower unit is in forward, when it's the other way it's in reverse and when it's in the middle it's in neutral.

So what I would look at first, is to see if that shift rod under the cowel is shifting properly. So take off the cowel and then visably observe what happens when someone else move the shifter from neutral to forward and then into reverse. I'm not sure how complicated your set up is, but what I've sometimes done is disconnected the cable under the cowel to see if the shift rod seems to shift normally and that the shift cable coming out of the control box is properly shifting the rod fully and properly. Sometime the shift cables start getting sticky and then they don't fully engage that shift rod etc.

Assuming that everything is ok with the control box, cables and where they mount to that shift rod, you're most likely going to have to pull the lower unit to inspect it.

It goes without saying that you want to make sure you do all of this with the battery disconnected to ensure that you don't accidently start the motor etc.

Keep us posted - the problems and then the solutions posted in threads like this always help someone else down the line somewhere.

-Chris