Forward is reverse and vice versa?

C

crofty1984

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Hi all, I have a Volvo Penta outdrive on an AQ175A engine. I don't know the outdrive model but it's a single prop from the early 80's -280 maybe?
Anyway, It seems that forward and reverse are now the wrong way round. It was stiff getting into reverse to launch, then it briefly went back about a foot then forwards???
Then the engine died about 5 minutes later, but that's another story!
Any advice?
 
First I'd check the control box to see that nothing is worn/loose in the mechanism there.
Then I'd take the rear cover off the drive and check the cable is correctly adjusted, and if its connected in the correct sense, its easy to swap the link rod from one side to the other so it works in the opposite direction if need be.
 
Just a stupid question ...

But is the engine running the right way ... ? I know some small diesels can run backwards - a little rough - but they suck the air in from the exhaust and exhaust through the air intake ... not a good idea!
The reason I ask is if you initially had reverse thrust then forwards there after it doesn't sound like a linkage issue ... which would generally manifest itself 100% of the time.
 
The drive does not have a correct rotation as it is designed to run either way depending on installation however conventionally a single screw is left hand twin screw are handed out and high speed single may be righthand!
HOWEVER the Volvo drive has a reverse lock to allow the drive to kick up if it strikes in forward but locks it down in reverse to stop it coming out of the water and loosing thrust.
Changing the rotation without altering the rev lock is potentially dangerous.
The instructions should be in the cover and owners book.
May be able to be done in the water?
 
Last edited:
scottie said:
The drive does not have a correct rotation as it is designed to run either way depending on installation however conventionally a single screw is left hand twin screw are handed out and high speed single may be righthand!
HOWEVER the Volvo drive has a reverse lock to allow the drive to kick up if it strikes in forward but locks it down in reverse to stop it coming out of the water and loosing thrust.
Changing the rotation without altering the rev lock is potentially dangerous.
The instructions should be in the cover and owners book.
May be able to be done in the water?
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for mentioning that rev lock thing. I got her running nicely, goes forwards (albeit with the lever backwards) and backwards but that reverse lock thing does NOT engage!
What does that mean and can I sort it. I can live with the wonky fore-aft lever for the last month of the season, but That reversing thing's a real worry. Even a temp fix to lock it completely would be better than what I have.

Regards, Dan
 
from your description it suggests that the linkage is incorrectly fitted at the outdrive (under the cover on the outdrive) and you are getting forward when you should be getting astern. This is not difficult to fix, and could I believe be done with the leg raised and standing in shallow water.

This also suggests that your reverse latch is not operating correctly ... it is probably locking in forward because the cable connection is wrong.

AQ175 sounds like petrol so I dont think it can possibly be running 'the wrong way'.
 
Thanks everyone. I'll have a look at raising the leg and standing in the shallows (I assume the linkage will be OK if it gets a little wet)
When I bought the boat it was out of the water so didn't see this problem. In any case, it's coming out in November so I might just live with it for a month or so.
Odd thing was it was really stiff to move the lever back, then it did reverse for a second, before moving forwards??
I'll get to the bottom of it I should think.
 
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