Lost reverse on starboard

buggyjdav

2004 FV 342 with twin Merc 350 Horizon engines and Bravo I/O's. Need some advice. At end of last season while docking I lost forward in my starboard engine, reverse works fine. Checked cables all the way to the engine and they are working fine. It's something in the Bravo drive, maybe cable broke? Any thoughts?

skennelly

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/showthread.php?402042-Bravo-3-Lost-reverse

Based on what I read...if you can shift into forward and nuetral but not reverse it's most likely not the cable and something in the shift linkage in the drive or worse gears

Cableguy Greg

I had that happen to me and it was the shift cable from the engine to the drive.

buggyjdav

I believe I recall there are two cables to the drive, one for forward and one for reverse so maybe likely that just the forward cable is the issue

Cableguy Greg

There is only one cable to the drive. If it is out of adjustment, or has stretched, it will cause the issue that you are describing. There are 2 cables coming from the throttle control. One is the throttle, the other is the forward/neutral/reverse.

212rowboat

Cableguy Greg said:

There is only one cable to the drive. If it is out of adjustment, or has stretched, it will cause the issue that you are describing. There are 2 cables coming from the throttle control. One is the throttle, the other is the forward/neutral/reverse.

in addition to this, you can cut to the chase and pull the drain plug, plug hole with your finger- and see how much metal is sticking to the magnetic plug end... a slimy wet talc like metal is normal wear... chunks is never normal.  an outdrive doesn't have hard part failure without carnage- the fit and finish is too precise in there... if one part moves it will encounter another that it isn't supposed to encounter.  that carnage will be evidenced on the plug.  

reneechris14

Just an fyi bravo's don't like to shift if not running. I would disconnect the cable up on the manifold and shift by hand with the motor running this should eliminate other possibilities. One cable goes in to the drive to shift.

jhofmann

The cable from the engine to the outdrive can cause issues with forward and reverse. The most common issue is when the cable contacts the drive shaft wearing a hole through the cable housing. When you shift into forward, you are pushing the cable which can cause the cable to push out of the hole in the cable housing instead of pushing the drive into forward.
When replacing, make sure your cable is routed correctly, or it will rub.

The other issue is the brass portion of the cable where it goes through the bell housing. On mine the nut that is part of the housing seperated from the housing. When shifting into reverse, you are pulling the cable, and when this broke it allowed the cable housing to pull through bell housing instead of the cable pulling the drive into reverse.

This is another reason that slower is better when docking, if the cable fails, damage will be minimal.

buggyjdav

It was the cable, had my mechanic install new cables, running great