Gear box cable

A

AliM

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Yesterday, when we were coming into our alongside berth, my partner at the helm put the engine into reverse to slow us down , as usual, but we continued forward and accelerated. A clash of anchors with the boat ahead stopped us quite effectively, with virtually no damage to either boat.

We found that the gear box cable had jumped off its pin, so that the engine was stuck in forward gear. It's a Volvo sail drive, just a couple of years old, and we had motored back in a very calm sea, so it had not been under any stress. Nothing looks damaged or unsound, but the plastic socket and the pin that it clicks onto look to be a very feeble connection by design. Is this a known problem and is there an easy solution?
 
When this happened to us 2 yr ago we managed to stove in our bows slightly on a Dutch garden rockery. The boat was then in its 12th season and the solution was to replace the whole cable & connections. Being no engineer, my solution would always be to get an engineer to look at it but we muffins seem to be in a minority on this forum.

I hope your nerves have recovered.
 
AliM said:
Yesterday, when we were coming into our alongside berth, my partner at the helm put the engine into reverse to slow us down , as usual, but we continued forward and accelerated. A clash of anchors with the boat ahead stopped us quite effectively, with virtually no damage to either boat.

We found that the gear box cable had jumped off its pin, so that the engine was stuck in forward gear. It's a Volvo sail drive, just a couple of years old, and we had motored back in a very calm sea, so it had not been under any stress. Nothing looks damaged or unsound, but the plastic socket and the pin that it clicks onto look to be a very feeble connection by design. Is this a known problem and is there an easy solution?
Click to expand...

OK, ping to the top again in case any Volvo saildrive owners miss it.

I have had this twice on the Yanmar, on which the cable outer is held by a fork at the lever end. If something in the locker dislodges it then it stops working, usually when in forward gear and heading towards an immovable object. The advantage of a spoon bow over a plumb one becomes obvious when you hit the pontoon.

In both cases I had to replace the cable, in the end. Not a cheap option but not the end of the world.
I cannot envisage the set-up as you describe it, is it the inner or the outer that is becoming detached? Another problem that causes this is rust or damage inside the cable. Basically if it doesn't work freely, you put an awful lot of strain on everything when you operate the lever. As it is the weakest link that usually gives, don't necessarily look at the bit that broke, try and determine what caused it to break. Work the lever back and forth, while looking at the ends of the cable to see what is sticking or broken.
 
Did it come of at the control or the engine end either way it should have a retainer which would be a split pin or circlip
 
And Yanmar.

Had my 3YM20 serviced today. Engineer found that the gear control cable, which is bolted to the gear selector lever on the sail drive, was only being held by a couple of threads. Vibration had, effectively, almost unscrewed the nut. Now nipped up tight and with a dab of Loctite, and will be added to the inspection regime.
 
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