Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Help! 2011 Mercury ProXS suddenly binding when shifting in to and out of gear??
Today I had to run a lowrance HDS transducer wire from the stern of the boat to the console and in the process unscrewed the shifter plate so I could get my hand back there to direct the fish tape and then simply put it back and tightened the screws back up.When all done I went over the whole boat to make sure everything was operational and when I engage the shifter its very difficult to move forward and a little stiff going backwards in to reverse as well.When I depress the button in the middle of the shifter lever that puts the boat in neutral there is no binding at all and its as smooth as ever. I checked the cables back to the motor and took the cowl off to see if there was any binding on the assembly/levers that manage the shifter and hot foot and cannot see anything out of place?The hotfoot seems 100% operational but suddenly this motor is incredibly hard to put in to gear and take out of gear so that its in neutral. I have no clue as to what to look for. Any ideas are very much welcome. Thanks in advance for any advice you can lend.
I remember seeing someone having this problem before, but I dont recall the fix. You may be able to do a search above and find the thread. Otherwise, somebody will be along soon to lead you in the right direction. Heres one topic…. http://basscatowners.yuku.com/topic/244 … -assembleyLast edited by toledobasser on September 20th, 2013, 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
Thanks Toledobasser, seems he had the same issue but the fix was not recorded for anyone to learn from. Hoping someone who knows what might be going on can lend some insight, this is really unusual as the shifter plate was out for no more than a couple of minutes, had zero pressure on any of the cables, and went right back in where it was once I was able to direct the fish tape forward to the console access on the gunnel. Fix one thing, another breaks… Crazy stuff.
Adjustment of the centering barrel nut on the engine end of the cable.We would check this adjustment first, centering the barrel nut while in neutral and neutral position on the gear case, centering the barrel nut after determining where center of neutral is by manually moving the shifter assembly in the free play area with your fingers. Set the nut in the center and your good. Then if that does not ease shifting the shifter retaining pin is out of socket in the control box. This you remove the control box and reposition the arm awhile in neutral And shifting the shift while spinning the propeller will check the throttle stops.
I gave you the answer over on the BBC-BCB board… You shouldnt ever try to shift it without motor running.. Gears & Slide Clutch cant align and will give you the binding issue..
I replied before I saw this thread. See my response in other thread. ThanksBigAl
This is a bonehead move on my end and I own it….I had no idea that engaging the shifter while the boat was not running was not a good idea or could get something out of alignment but when I went out and spun the prop a few times and heard a “click” down in the LU I immediately thought, hmmmmmm that makes a lot of sense now. After reading a post response on Bass Boat Central I went out, spun the prop forward and reverse a few times and she engaged smooth as can be. Lesson learned… Thanks to BCB moderator on BBC.Com & to Sherms Marine for setting me straight on that, I had no clue that it would get something out of alignment doing that while the motor was not running. Its working fine from what I can tell and I plan to water test it later today. Thanks for the help again!
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