First cruise. Well, almost.

M

mgarr682

New member
After working on my new boat for the last few months I was finally ready for my first cruise. On Saturday I drove a few hundred miles toward the coast and spent the weekend visiting my mother. On Monday it was on to Oriental to launch for three days and two nights on the water, plenty of time to try out all the systems on the boat, put some hours on the engine and catch some fish.

After launching the boat and parking the truck I climbed aboard and started the engine to let it warm up while I finished preparations for getting under way. As I was finishing up I noticed the boat was pulling against the mooring lines a bit more than the wind warranted. A look astern showed me water being moved by the engine. Although it was just idling it was in gear!

How could that be? I made certain it was in neutral before turning the key. They won't start in gear, right? Wrong. It was certainly in gear, in forward. Moving the shift/throttle lever made no difference, the engine stayed in forward gear regardless of the shifter position. Oh well, back onto the trailer.

Looking things over showed me this washer in a place it wasn't supposed to be.

FirstTrip01.jpg

I'm guessing that shaft and washer have something to do with shifting the transmission on my Honda 90.

So, off to Mobile East Marine a few miles back up the road, but, they're closed on Monday. No problem. I'd been looking forward to spending the night on the boat and that's exactly what I did.

My view at anchor Monday evening:

FirstTrip02.jpg

Tuesday morning I met the nice folks who own Mobile East Marine. Hopefully they'll have Glenda Jean ready for the water soon.
 
Sorry for your trouble but I like you attitude. Nice anchor spot. Did you BBq off the back deck while on the trailer??

the problem is not the problem, your attitude about the problem is the problem.
 
Looks like whomever changed the water pump impeller last, didn't line up the shifting shaft when reinstalling the lower unit. There's a circular clip that should be hanging there too.

This is of course, a wild guess, because I would never make that error :wink: Well, maybe once :oops:
 
Dreamer":2kw59faq said:

This is of course, a wild guess, because I would never make that error :wink: Well, maybe once :oops:
Click to expand...

With twins no less! There are two kinds of folks, those who have done it and those who are gonna do it! :mrgreen: :thup

Kind of like transom plugs! Thank goodness a TC255 doesn't have them!

Charlie
 
starcrafttom":1xp60sr9 said:
Sorry for your trouble but I like you attitude. Nice anchor spot. Did you BBq off the back deck while on the trailer??
Click to expand...

I settled for a sandwich and a soda but both were pretty good.
 
Dreamer":2sdk24xu said:
Looks like whomever changed the water pump impeller last, didn't line up the shifting shaft when reinstalling the lower unit. There's a circular clip that should be hanging there too.

This is of course, a wild guess, because I would never make that error :wink: Well, maybe once :oops:
Click to expand...

What is odd is that the engine was run in December out of the water with the appropriate water supply. It was certainly in neutral then as I was looking at the prop when it was run and it was not turning. Since then it's been trailered from the west coast to the east coast but not run any more. When the engine was shut down in December it had one tenth of an hour on it. When I shut it down on Monday it was up to two tenths of an hour. A whole twelve minutes on it before a trip to the shop. That's what warranties are for!
 
I ran the new to me boat and motor 135 verado last month to dewinterize it. I was surprised to see in neutral the prop making slow revolutions,I asked the local dealer he said it was normal. You would think it wouldn't turn at all. Anybody else outboards do this?
 
I am not positive but I think the detent that holds the transmission in gear (or neutral) is in the powerhead, not in the lower unit. If the shift shaft is not connected it is possible the transmission "drifted" from neutral to a gear position while being trailered. Probably just needs to be properly reconnected.

By the way, my Honda 90 does slowly turn when in neutral and running on the muffs. I just cannot remember which way, but it depends on the preload on bearings in the lower unit and can probably turn either way on different engines.
 
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