Shift actuator failure PCU

[Ribliam]

It's been a long time since I used this forum but in time of trouble and all that..

Late last summer my VP DPR outdrive exploded (bottom gearbox hole) due to other priorities I did not have the repair completed until March of this year, the repair was covered by my insurance who paid for a complete DPR outdrive, I have not had the boat in the water since the repair and today while doing a cleanup of the boat I had the ignition on and happened to shift into forward gear ,when pulling back to neutral I got an alarm on the EVC "Shift Actuator Failure PCU" from checking the FAQs section I gather that these shift actuators seem to give trouble.

Reading a couple of posts on shift actuators from Jimmy the Builder he mentions trying the cable to see if it is sticky I will try this tomorrow , has anyone any other thoughts on my predicament or does it look like a new actuator?

Boat 8.7 mt Excalibur RIB with VP D6 with DPR outdrive.

All replies appreciated.

 

[aquatom]

Disconnect the gear cable from the actuator and see if you still get the fault. Don't keep trying it, if the gear cable is tight or there is a problem in the drive you could damage a good actuator. If there is no fault with the cable disconnected then disconnect the drive end and check cable and the gear shift in drive.

 

[Ribliam]

This morning I did what "aquatom" suggested with the actuator disconnected from the cable I had no faults and the actuator went in and out of gear forward and reverse without any problems, I then tried to engage gear from within the engine bay by moving the manual cable , while I was able to engage gear it did seem very stiff,I then disconnected the cable at the sterndrive and was able to move the cable quite freely,I am also able to engage gear fairly easily at the gear selector on the sterndrive.but when I reconnect everything at the sterndrive and try to engage gear using the manual cable it does seem to be too stiff to me, I did not reconnect the actuator as I think it could be ok and did not want to force it, I will contact the VP dealers who fitted the new outdrive and see what they suggest.

Thanks Liam..

 

[Beamishken]

Are you trying to shift gear with the engine not running? Many drives are difficult to operate when stationary but are fine with the engine running

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

This morning I did what "aquatom" suggested with the actuator disconnected from the cable I had no faults and the actuator went in and out of gear forward and reverse without any problems, I then tried to engage gear from within the engine bay by moving the manual cable , while I was able to engage gear it did seem very stiff,I then disconnected the cable at the sterndrive and was able to move the cable quite freely,I am also able to engage gear fairly easily at the gear selector on the sterndrive.but when I reconnect everything at the sterndrive and try to engage gear using the manual cable it does seem to be too stiff to me, I did not reconnect the actuator as I think it could be ok and did not want to force it, I will contact the VP dealers who fitted the new outdrive and see what they suggest.

Thanks Liam..

Sounds like you've found my previous posts on the same fault I had with my DPH drives. I had a similar recurrence recently, but this time it was a stiff cable that was just enough to cause the actuator to report a fault. Replaced the cable with the newer-style 'xact' cable and problem solved.