Morse control stays in reverse

[YerffoegF]

Has anyone else experienced this:
When going from reverse to forward with my single lever morse control the gearbox stays in reverse but the the throttle goes through neutral into revs as if in forward gear position. However the the gearbox is still stuck in reverse. Operating the lever a couple of times gets it back to working correctly. When this happens the morse control feels very free as if it is not operating the gear box.

 

[James_Calvert]

No.

But it sounds like something has got loose around the gear change cable connection and basically, when it works, you've got lucky.

Can you get at the back of the mechanism where the control cables are? You might find something just needs tightening up. Hopefully no bits have fallen off... yet.

 

[scottie]

Piccie please for recognition purposes

 

[Stemar]

The first and easiest check is probably at the gearbox end of the cable. Is it operating the lever as expected? If so, is the lever actually turning its rod? Mine worked loose once!

 

[rotrax]

Quite possibly the cross pin that sits in the pin shaped recess recess has broken last time reverse was engaged. This leaves it in the last gear engaged but allows the engine to rev. I had to drill out about 18 hot pressed Mazac monkey metal rivet heads, file level, drill and tap for 4mm screws to repair the control on our Hunter 27 OOD.

I used a solid pin instead of a roll pin, sacrificing my nice Snap-On small phillips screwdriver for the material for the new pin. AFAIK, the repair is still OK 17 years later.

A new control was £120.00 and getting money out of one syndicate member was like trying to poke butter up a porcupine's arse with a red hot knitting needle, so I fixed it.

 

[Bilgediver]

The single lever operates two functions. The reversing function is just a lever to the Teleflex control . This is all behind the panel where the operating lever is situated . Either the lever is coming loose on the control shaft or the Teleflex end is insecure where it joins the lever. It has to both push and pull depending on direction to be selected. It is possible that a securing clamp on the out cover of the reversing cable has come loose at either the gearbox end or the operating lever end. It may just be a case of repositioning the end ferrule correctly within the clamp and securing the clamp. The end of fittings have a groove which engages within the clamps.

 

[LittleSister]

Clearly your throttle cable is being correctly operated by the lever, but the gear change cable is not. As it sometimes works and sometimes not, and feels very different according to whether it's working it's highly likely that something's fouling the gear change cable or the lever mechanism.

There is nothing very complicated about the cable operation so solving this problem should not be too difficult.

Basics -

The single lever operates two cables, one for the throttle and one for the gear change.
The cables are both pulled and pushed (not just pulled like bike brake cables).
The two cables are pulled/pushed differently to one another by the lever (by means of cams in the lever mechanism).
The throttle cable is not moved by the lever when it is near the lever centre point - it remains at the tickover setting, but once a little way from the lever centre point it then increases revs according to how far the lever is from the centre, regardless of direction. (i.e. your throttle cable operation is fine)
The gear change cable, by contrast, is only moved when the lever is near its centre point. At the actual centre point it puts the lever on the gearbox itself to neutral, as you move the operating lever forward it (should) soon put the gearbox to forward, and then beyond that there's no further cable movement. Same in the other direction for reverse.

Fault finding -
You are looking, in the first instance for things that could be stopping the pulling and pushing of the cable inner wire operating properly, and that both the cable inner wire and cable outer sheath are being held securely. Much less likely potential problems are a fault with either the lever mechanism or the gearbox itself.

As Stemar says, looking at the engine/gearbox end is probably the easiest (depending on access) to start with. Check there is nothing that might stop the cable and lever moving easily, and also that the cable inner and outer clamps are tight.

Then do the same for the mechanisms at the back/underside of the operating lever. Again check there is nothing that might stop the cable and lever moving easily, and also that the cable inner and outer clamps are tight. It could be as simple as something has fallen against the mechanism and is stopping it operating properly (I had a lever on the bulkhead of a cockpit locker, and had to arrange a cover for it to stop anything in the locker falling against it and fouling the cable/lever operation).

While at that end, visually check there is nothing amiss - loose or fouling - on the lever mechanism itself.

If there is no sign of anything wrong with the cable operation both ends, disconnect the cable from the lever on the gearbox, and operate the gearbox lever by hand manually to eliminate any (less likely) possibility that it's the gearbox at fault, not the cable. Then reconnect.

If still no joy, buy yourself a new gear change cable (they are standard cables, not that expensive, you just need to measure the length you need). and install it. (n.b. There is probably nothing much wrong with your cable as such, but doing this eliminates that possibility, and also forces you to examine every part and connection thoroughly as you remake all the relevant connections, and cables do wear, so a new cable will probably operate more smoothly.)

If there's still no joy after that, I'd suspect a problem with the operating lever.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.