Lost Reverse and Neutral ?????'s

Adrenalix · **Posted:** Sun Aug 09, 2009 2:50 pm

Ok, new boat owner here. I have a 1994 Horizon 20' which I've owned for all of a month now. I've been out on it a dozen times or so since I've had it and encountered my first problem today. I was getting the boat off the trailer, put it in reverse and it wasn't getting itself off the trailer like usual. What do I do?? I push it off the trailer, put it in drive (with no issues) and putt over to the dock to tie up and park my truck. I'm coasting up to the dock (a little faster than I cared to), put it in reverse, and to my surprise the boat lurches forward and I smacked the dock straight on!

With all that being said, I start to do my checklist of things and come to realize that I don't have neutral or reverse. When I'm in neutral, it's still in drive. When I go to reverse, I'm still in drive.

I manage to get the boat back onto the trailer and get it home with alot of struggling and pushing, but it's here.

I start tracing the cables (figuring that's what it is) and I trace the drive cable all the way out to the outdrive motor. There is a cover on top of the out motor comes off to show where the cable comes in. I can manually put the boat in neutral, drive, and reverse with a socket wrench (there's a bolt that you can turn to select the gear). My question is, can this be a broken cable? What is involved in changing this cable?

I'm pretty handy with mechanical stuff. I've owned close to 20 motorcycles and don't have any issues tearing them apart. I'm not afraid to get dirty and I can usually put my crap together with little to no left over parts!

Has anyone experienced this issue? Anyone have any advice or pointers for me that I need to further investigate before I try and change the cable?

EvilZ · **Posted:** Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:16 pm

It does sound like your shift cable - same thing happened to me.

However, a buddy of mine with a Horizon, not unlike yours, went through the troubleshooting process like you and put it back together and it seems to work fine again. So, you might try shifting again in your driveway if you haven't since your mishap....

Adrenalix · **Posted:** Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:44 pm

I haven't completely put it back together yet, but the fact that I can't even feel the cable trying to engage makes me think that the cable is broken. I'm going to test the continuity of the cable. It's a metal cable, so (in theory) I should be able to get power from one end of the cable to the other if it's not broken.

Thanks for the info, and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person that's happend to. Unfortunate I smacked the crap out of the dock, but it's a small gouge right on the "v" of the nose.

I'm assuming I can call a local four winns dealership, explain the problem and they can order a new shift cable. Is a "stealership" the best place to go for that type of part, or is there any recommendations to purchase online?

EvilZ · **Posted:** Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm

I had mine handled by the dealer, but do a search on the forum here - there may be some threads to help you out.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4227

1NiceHarley · **Joined:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:00 pm **Posts:** 384

I would get the part number and do a search on-line for the part. Doug Russell marine (IIRC) is a good site to get parts.

impulse · **Posted:** Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:59 pm

Just for kicks, before you go that far.....have you removed the cover from the shifter to make sure it hasn't come loose on that end?

Adrenalix · **Posted:** Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:20 pm

I haven't removed the cover as of yet, but I was able to see the end of the cable and it doesn't appear to be loose. In order to get a new cable, I have to remove the old cable so they can measure it and match the ends. I figured I would only take apart what I absolutely needed to starting off and check everything REALLY good before I completely removed the cable. I will take apart the shifter housing first just to make sure everything is as it should be. if I find anything wrong in there, I'll see what I can do with it. I'd rather not remove the cable if I don't have to, so I'm going to mess around with it just to see if there is anything that I'm missing prior to removing the entire DAMN thing!

Thanks for the advice though...I've read a few people have had the same problems, they just took it all apart, oiled the cable and shifter as best they could, put it back together and haven't had a problem since. That would be AWESOME if it works out that way!

We shall see! I'll post up in the next day or so as I get time to mess around with it.

Adrenalix · **Posted:** Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:20 am

Well, I tried everything I could before I took the cable out...nothing worked. I got a good look at the cable and it's split in a few areas where it runs through the outdrive motor. There's spots where you can see the cable itself and there's alot of rust in there. I can only assume that's what's causing the issues.

I looked everywhere in town for the cable and finally found one place that has it. I'll be heading up there at lunch today to make sure the ends match correctly and hopefully it's the correct cable.

My chances of getting back on the water this weekend are increasing!!!! Woo-Hoo!!!! I'll post up when everything is complete (hopefully I can swing this job on my own).

Jimbrownle · **Joined:** Thu May 21, 2009 7:50 am **Posts:** 15

I had the exact same problem on my 1995 240 Horizon earlier in the summer. Fortunately mine went out when i was fishing offshore, so I didn't hit anything (but almost lost the Coho I had hooked).

I posted the same question here, and the advice was correct - it was the shift throttle cable.

Apparently the cable is designed with an inner sleeve and an outter sleeve, and there is a fitting that controls which sleeve is being pushed by the throttle. When the fitting breaks, the whole cable needs to be replaced. Someone smarter than I am can confirm that this is correct.

I had mine replaced at the dealer. The part was $200(??) plus labor, but I think everything was marked way up.

Good luck with it.

Adrenalix · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:05 pm

I was able to finally find the cable (the part number that I had was OEM, that's why I had a hard time finding it). After a little cross reference research, I was able to locate one locally, and got it all done and buttoned up last week. It took a few hours getting everything back together, buttoned back up, and adjusted out. I took it out to the lake on Thursday and it worked like a champ. (That deserved a few cold beers with my neighbor who helped me!) The boat shifts so smooth now, there's no hang up on the shifter or anything.

I'm no genius mechanic or anything, and I was able to figure it out on my own. If anyone else has this same problem and you want to save a few bucks, I think it's something that you could do on your own with a little mechanical experience. The key to making it easy is to run a line through when you pull out the old cable so it makes pulling the new cable a cinch!

www.iFourWinns.com

Lost Reverse and Neutral ?????'s

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