Sterndrive sticking in gear

petem

petem

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The discussion of outdrives on the KAD32 thread has prompted me to start this thread.

We've has an ongoing intermittent issue (probably since we bought the boat) whereby the port engine / drive occasionally sticks in reverse instead of returning to neutral. We've pretty much learned to live with it but it's far from ideal.

We need to have the boat lifted this week to change anodes so are taking the opportunity to fix the gear problem. I know that the gear cables have become stiff (advisory on last service) so these will be replaced this week.

I'm also not 100% happy with the gear engagement. The starboard drive (that was replaced 7 or so years ago) engages with a nice clunk however the port side engine is silent on engagement. It does seem to be working however with no discernible delay on engagement. The guy that looks after the boat isn't convinced that replacement is worthwhile at the moment.

Is there anything else that could cause the sticking in gear? Could a worn throttle position sensor / potentiometer be the culprit? For the sake of £20 I'm tempted to order a replacement and keep in on board as a spare.

I'm hoping that the actuator isn't knackered. Replacements are £1k+. Has anyone dismantled an actuator, are they repairable?
 
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As part of my quest to understand stern drives I have previously watched numerous videos of them on YouTube that I found interesting. Those videos covered all the parts which you mention but in particular there was one with regard to the actuator that revealed that they are repairable and there is a repair kit for such eventualities. Takes some physical force but is doable. I simply searched sterndrive with whatever part you are interested in.
 
blacklablover said:
As part of my quest to understand stern drives I have previously watched numerous videos of them on YouTube that I found interesting. Those videos covered all the parts which you mention but in particular there was one with regard to the actuator that revealed that they are repairable and there is a repair kit for such eventualities. Takes some physical force but is doable. I simply searched sterndrive with whatever part you are interested in.
Click to expand...

Thanks, sounds hopeful. Are you thinking of the steering actuator or the gear actuator (it's the gear actuator that I need)?

https://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7738870-27-3455.aspx

Unfortunately Google isn't returning anything that looks like a repair kit for part number 3582818.
 
We've had the issue of no thunk and slightly slow engagement, esp in reverse. We needed as new cone clutch to resolve. How it was described to me is that the clutch doesn't grab but slips slightly on engagement, hence no thunk. Not quite sure why it's sticking in reverse; but I was also told the slipping can burn the oil; maybe that and a worn clutch is making it stick.

I'd have thought the actuator would blow its fuse if the cable was overly stiff. I've had that happen too after some careless apprentice at a certain VP main dealership refitted a drive cable incorrectly.
 
petem said:
The discussion of outdrives on the KAD32 thread has prompted me to start this thread.

We've has an ongoing intermittent issue (probably since we bought the boat) whereby the port engine / drive occasionally sticks in reverse instead of returning to neutral. We've pretty much learned to live with it but it's far from ideal.

We need to have the boat lifted this week to change anodes so are taking the opportunity to fix the gear problem. I know that the gear cables have become stiff (advisory on last service) so these will be replaced this week.

I'm also not 100% happy with the gear engagement. The starboard drive (that was replaced 7 or so years ago) engages with a nice clunk however the port side engine is silent on engagement. It does seem to be working however with no discernible delay on engagement. The guy that looks after the boat isn't convinced that replacement is worthwhile at the moment.

Is there anything else that could cause the sticking in gear? Could a worn throttle position sensor / potentiometer be the culprit? For the sake of £20 I'm tempted to order a replacement and keep in on board as a spare.

I'm hoping that the actuator isn't knackered. Replacements are £1k+. Has anyone dismantled an actuator, are they repairable?
Click to expand...

Be silly not to start with the shift cable , when was it last changed ?
Less frequent used boats surfer more , a simple job that will save you an actuator burning out .
Insist the engineer for the Xact type cable , which will last twice as long as the standard type vp cable .
You also need to check the adjustment.
I cannot see how anyone knows the cable is stiff on an edc control system.
If it was removed from the actuator then push pull manually and deemed stiff it should have been changed then .
 
I've seen one that exhibited these sorts of problems until finally it just ended up being stuck in gear. Turned out the crimp fitting right at the end of the cable that attached to the drive gear selector had suffered a bit of corrosion of the cable beneath the plastic sleeving. This allowed for slight movement of the cable inside the crimp that caused the gear change one way to be positive (push) and the other way intermittent (pull). Owner kept on trying to calibrate the controls to rectify the issue until eventually the cable just parted. Amazingly he was able to replace the entire cable with the boat in the water (he is a diver) and I learnt that the cable sleeve to the transom is not water tight when I pulled the old cable through and the sleeve fell down between the two engines just out of easy reach.
 
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volvopaul said:
Be silly not to start with the shift cable , when was it last changed ?
Less frequent used boats surfer more , a simple job that will save you an actuator burning out .
Insist the engineer for the Xact type cable , which will last twice as long as the standard type vp cable .
You also need to check the adjustment.
Click to expand...

I've no idea when they were last changed. I have lots of history for the past 8 years but no mention of them being changed in that period.

volvopaul said:
I cannot see how anyone knows the cable is stiff on an edc control system.
If it was removed from the actuator then push pull manually and deemed stiff it should have been changed then .
Click to expand...

I guess you could remove the pins (the ones that allow you to engage gear manually) and determine the stiffness. All they said at the last service was something like "Gear selector cables becoming stiff, greased for now*. Advise changing on next lift out."

Slightly frustrating that they weren't changed at the time.


* I've since heard that greasing them is impossible.
 
Pete
Youre KAD42 with EDC arent you ?
I had T34 with Kad42 on morse and had identical symptoms you stated and wrestled with morse to get into neutral - new cables made no difference and it needed clutch cones being remilled down.
Not sure how the EDC affects things so fingers crossed with new cables
Simon
 
bluetooth said:
Pete
Youre KAD42 with EDC arent you ?
I had T34 with Kad42 on morse and had identical symptoms you stated and wrestled with morse to get into neutral - new cables made no difference and it needed clutch cones being remilled down.
Not sure how the EDC affects things so fingers crossed with new cables
Simon
Click to expand...
No such thing , 42 is a manual engine . Pete is 44 edc
 
petem said:
I'm hoping that the actuator isn't knackered. Replacements are £1k+. Has anyone dismantled an actuator, are they repairable?
Click to expand...

Pete, one of my actuators was taken apart and it revealed that the microswitch tabs had become dislodged so an electrical circuit could not be made and the engine thought it was stuck in gear and wouldn't start. Different issue to you I know but it shows you can take them apart.

Also, my port drives clunks both forward and reverse, starboard clunks intermittently in reverse. This is after new cables last month. (KAD44 edc).

Boats eh?
 
Groova said:
Pete, one of my actuators was taken apart and it revealed that the microswitch tabs had become dislodged so an electrical circuit could not be made and the engine thought it was stuck in gear and wouldn't start. Different issue to you I know but it shows you can take them apart.

Also, my port drives clunks both forward and reverse, starboard clunks intermittently in reverse. This is after new cables last month. (KAD44 edc).

Boats eh?
Click to expand...

Interesting. Did you manage to fix the Actuator?
 
@petem. Apologies but I have no idea. I’m a total newbie and the one who started the thread about the KAD32 stern drives as I was trying to educate myself ;)
 
petem said:
Thanks, very helpful. I've managed to find this...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gear-Shi...572032?hash=item41a1bfbe00:g:bkYAAOSw~otWcJZN

Is it the repair kit?

So when people talk about knackered actuators, it is just the seals that have gone?
Click to expand...

Transpires that the kit above is for manual versions and is a seal at the drive end of the cable. There doesn't seem to be any repair kit for the EDC drive actuator.

I find it hard to believe that these things can't be repaired or replaced with an alternative part. Does anyone have a broken actuator lying around that I could have a play with?
 
Why do you think it's the actuator? Have you had a look and verified that it's not making the correct throws? We always gravitate to the worst case scenario and it's seldom the case. I'd really pull the cable first, inspect and validate it's not the cause before you go any further. Then by hand manually engage the drives at the rear via gear selector bell crank to verify it's not a drive issue. If your actuator visually looks like it's struggling to go into reverse. Remove the cables and try again to see if it's making correct throws. It's a couple of screws and validating is a 10 minute job that even someone with minimal spanner turning skills can do.

edited to complete a sentence
 
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BruceK said:
Why do you think it's the actuator? Have you had a look and verified that it's not making the correct throws? We always gravitate to the worst case scenario and it's seldom the case. I'd really pull the cable first, inspect and validate it's not the cause before you go any further. Then by hand manually engage the drives at the rear via gear selector bell crank to verify it's not a drive issue. If your actuator visually looks like it's struggling to go into reverse. Remove the cables and try again to see if it's making correct throws. It's a couple of screws and validating is a 10 minute job that even someone with minimal spanner turning skills can do.

edited to complete a sentence
Click to expand...

I don't believe I have an issue with the actuator. Questions are more of an academic exercise really.
 
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