Shift lever starting problem

Posts about mechanical systems on a Telstar, including the outboard engine.
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wingman71
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Shift lever starting problem

Post by wingman71 »

I have the 20 HP with tilt/remote electronics. The start will not turn over unless I gently push the shift lever against the forward stop in the neutral position. Then it starts normally. I have removed the entire control box (not to hard once you have done it several times!) to take it into a Honda mechanic.

I wanted to see if there was an obvious problem, but there was not and further disassembly was too risky. Hopefully the Honda mechanic can adjust it without having to connect it to the engine. Obvoiusly, I cannot take the whole engine and control box in too easily.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? I will report what the fix is once it works.
wooden
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by wooden »

I have had some odd things happen to my engine and remote, so I have had the shift assembly removed many times. You are correct that it is not too hard to do, but reassembly needs to proceed carefully. I have taken a few pictures just to make sure everything goes back as designed.

I had a problem with my shift cable because it rusted out. This prevented the engine from restarting because of inability to shift to neutral. Replacement and adjustment to the cable, about $40, did the trick. I am not sure this is the same issue you are having, but it was a pretty easy fix.

The two strangest issues I had were pretty much opposite problems. The first was not allowing me to start the engine, and the second problem did not allow me to stop the engine. The first problem occurred because of almost undetectable corrosion on the negative wire where the battery cable connected to the engine cable under the port cockpit seat. It prevented continuity of the negative wire.

Once I fixed that issue, about a month later the engine would start, but would not turn off without starving the engine of fuel. Because the engine normally shuts off by grounding itself out when the key is put in the off position, or the dead man switch is activated, I was sure it was a broken ground wire in the engine. After pulling everything apart and exposing all wires, I could not find a broken or disconnected wire. For the next three hours, I conducted a continuity test on every engine wire. I finally found one that had no continuity. I cut what appeared to be a perfectly good wire only to find it had rusted in half from the inside while the conduit remained perfectly sound.

The take home message is that rust and corrosion are the two biggest problems. The two cables that come from the remote, throttle and gear shift, are subject to internal corrosion and rust. They need to be occasionally adjusted or replaced. Grounding wires and surfaces need to be maintained. I suspect your problem is a cable adjustment issue, or bad cable that needs to be replaced.
Steve & Mittie Wooden
Bayou Vista TX (Galveston)
"Gnarly's Poop Deck" Hull #340
wingman71
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by wingman71 »

An update. The problem is not in the power control box, but on the engine. I discovered this after disconnecting to cables and power connections, then removing the box and taking it to the local Honda maintenance. I put the control box back on and, amazingly, it still works, but I still have a small dead starting area in neutral.

According to the Honda mechanic, the problem is caused by shifting in and out of gear while the engine is off! Obviously, a crew education problem, as the skipper would never do that!

I have not tried the engine fix, but was told what to do. If you hve the shop manual, look on page 15-2 REMOTE CONTROL CABLES, MOTOR SIDE. According to the mechanic, once you disconct the shift cable from the shift arm, the engine shift arm will naturally assume the correct neutral position. You then must adjust the cable as shown in the manual.

Sounds easy enough!

I will update once I can try this. The hardest part is doing all this from a dinghy under the engine.
wingman71
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by wingman71 »

Problem solved! After going through all the shift and throttle cable adjustments, I still did not have the problem fixed. Looking through the maintenance manual, I next found the neutral start cable and its adjustment. It definitely needed adjustment and a good cleaning of corrosion! This surely must be my problem! Sadly, it was not. I suspect that in might have been necessary, but certainly was not sufficient.

Back to the manual and the next culprit it suggested was the neutral switch itself. However, this had no adjustment. That was supposed to be the cable. However, we discovered that by slightly pushing back on the switch, the starter worked! Once we bent it back slightly (actually bending the mounting bracket very slightly) it worked perfectly! Not sure why,but we had run out of time and I now knew what to do if it fails again. Well, at east where to start and what not to do.

The mounting bracket and switch are corroded together and to the engine, so while I should really replace the unit, at least it is now working.
wooden
Posts: 111
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by wooden »

Thanks for keeping us updated on your problem solving. This is very helpful. I continue to have odd problems with my remote box as well. The idle is either too low or too high, and the cables have slop in them that I can not seem to fix. As difficult as things seem to be, this is still the best boat I have every owned. At least I am having fun problem solving.

Steve Wooden
Steve & Mittie Wooden
Bayou Vista TX (Galveston)
"Gnarly's Poop Deck" Hull #340
Ron
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by Ron »

I had to replace the shift cable last year. They tend to wear out and become sloppy after a few years. Mine was about 8 years old when it started acting up. Got tired of playing with the remote to get it started.
Ron Marcuse
Telstar 28 #359 "Tri-Power"
Bill
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by Bill »

Anyone know how long the throttle cable should be? I launched yesterday, and found the throttle stiff (as it was last year) and didn't consistently throttle down to idle properly, forcing me to shift at high idle (not good). I notice it appears bent and not parallel to the shift cable, where it comes out of the motor.
wooden
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Re: Shift lever starting problem

Post by wooden »

Bill,

I am sorry that I can not give you an exact length, but I did replace mine recently. It is easy to remove, and when I went to Honda, it was a pretty standard length and cost about $25. It is worth replacing. I still have some slop in my throttle and making adjustments do not seem to help. I will have to look into other issues that might be creating this, which may likely be the place in the throttle housing that secures the cable. I too get a fast idle and this is kind of rough on the shifting to forward or reverse. If I adjust the cable, it becomes either too little or too much. I can not find that sweet spot, but I will keep trying.

I just put the boat up for hurricane season, and don't have access to it right now, but when I start to work on it again, I will let you know if I find anything in particular. But again, if you have any damage to your cable, I would recommend replacing it.

Steve
Steve & Mittie Wooden
Bayou Vista TX (Galveston)
"Gnarly's Poop Deck" Hull #340
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