Difficulty in selecting gears

[Shelley5281]

Hi I’m new to narrow boating and even if I take it really slow I can’t always select gear forward or reverse. Can anybody advise me I under the gear box is new

[BEngo]

I assume you have a single lever control.  Check the gearbox oil level. Top if needed and see if that improves things.

Then:

Check that the gear cable is correctly adjusted, so that the gearbox selector  lever is in the neutral position with the  control lever in the neutral position.

Check that the cable is routed smoothly and with no sharp bends between lever box and gearbox.

If that is all OK disconnect the cable at the gearbox and see if the gearbox works OK when moving just the selector lever on the gearbox, by hand. If that fixes it you have a stiff cable which will need to be replaced because the nylon or otger plastic  cable liner does not like being oiled. If it does not work OK on the selector  lever you have a gearbox problem.  Come back with full details of the box, and some pictures.

 

N

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, Shelley5281 said:

Hi I’m new to narrow boating and even if I take it really slow I can’t always select gear forward or reverse. Can anybody advise me I under the gear box is new

If the gear box is newly installed (who did it) it may not have been properly connected to the selector cables (wrong adjustment)

 

To identify if it is the cables or the gearbox at fault, disconnect the cable at the gearbox end and try to manually put it into gear (Fwd & Rev).

If you can, then the cables need adjusting - if you can't then there is potentially a fault in the gear box (have you filled it with oil ?)

[Jen-in-Wellies]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

have you filled it with oil ?

And what sort of oil is it filled with? It varies with the type of box. Make and model, or a picture will help.

Jen

[Shelley5281]

Thanks everyone so Far. I will get gearbox detail tomorrow when back on boat. I don’t know who fitted it I think previous owner as I have a receipt for purchase only. It has oil up to a notch on dip stick oil looks clean but thin maybe same as the engine oil. 

[Shelley5281]

Hi pics of my gear box and oil just above notch is this normal

[Shelley5281]

On another point the label states atf fluid should this be red as it looks like the engine oil on dip stick?

[Boater Sam]

That looks like ATF on the stick to me.

 

Hope that the Hurth 125 box is not the problem, parts are stupid prices.

 

Can we have clarification that the box is not slipping or will it not select reverse at all?

[Tony Brooks]

Is it me or is the gearbox lever set a bit far forward? If I am correct and the control is set to neutral that would suggest it may well be a cable adjustment problem. I am also suspicious of the oil colour so would like to see a piece of tissue the dipstick had been wiped on.

[Boater Sam]

19 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Is it me or is the gearbox lever set a bit far forward? If I am correct and the control is set to neutral that would suggest it may well be a cable adjustment problem. I am also suspicious of the oil colour so would like to see a piece of tissue the dipstick had been wiped on.

The linkage does look to be favouring forward if that is in neutral.

Is all ATF red? I seem to remember some brands of TQF being almost yellow.  It will smell different from oil if the owner knows the aroma of mineral oils!

[Shelley5281]

Oil smells like engine oil to me. Maybe worth finding drain plug and changing it to be safe? When it’s not selected engine revs increase but no drive then if lever is pulled back to neutral and then select a drive again it clunks into selected gear. 

[Tony Brooks]

11 minutes ago, Shelley5281 said:

Oil smells like engine oil to me. Maybe worth finding drain plug and changing it to be safe? When it’s not selected engine revs increase but no drive then if lever is pulled back to neutral and then select a drive again it clunks into selected gear. 

That makes little sense to me unless you are talking about the mechanism that allows you to disengage the gear operating mechanism and then only open the throttle. This is often a button to push or pull out,,or the whole control lever pulls outward from the control housing. Using that mechanism will prevent you putting it into gear.

 

At this stage I doubt the oil will make much difference but it needs changing ASAP because engine oil may damage the clutches in the gearbox.

 

If you are absolutely sure that you are not operating the gear cable disconnect mechanism accidentally then have you done what Allan suggested and disconnected the lever on the gearbox from the cable and tried to put it in gear with the gearbox lever. If it works well on the gearbox lever the problem is probably cable adjustment or a loose clamp on the cable outer and one end or the  other. Make sure the cable outer is securely fixed. Then:

 

1. Put the gearbox in neutral by use of the lever on the box.

2. Put the control lever in neutral.

3. Screw/unscrew the fittings on the cable ends so the cable just drops into position on the gearbox lever without moving the control.

 

However the angle the gearbox lever looks to eb sitting at looks wrong to me if the control is in neutral and its looks so far out I doubt cable adjustment will be enough. I wonder if the outer has been clamped to the wrong set of holes at the gearbox end. No photo so we  can not know  how that bit is set up.

[Shelley5281]

Thanks Tony the previous owner only said to select gears by pushing leaver forward or back no other operation? I of cause maybe operating it incorrectly. 

The cable does seem to move about a bit as it goes into control box. 

It has a quicksilver control if the helps any. 

Edited August 20, 2019 by Shelley5281

[Tony Brooks]

47 minutes ago, Shelley5281 said:

Thanks Tony the previous owner only said to select gears by pushing leaver forward or back no other operation? I of cause maybe operating it incorrectly. 

The cable does seem to move about a bit as it goes into control box. 

It has a quicksilver control if the helps any. 

Here we go - Quicksilver is/was a brand for Mercury outboards and outboards  often have different cable movement requirements to inboards. Many controls have two sets of holes in the levers in the control to suit both inboards and outboards but I have no idea about yours.

 

Some images of Quicksilver controls have a gear disconnect knob in the middle of the boss of the lever you push and pull. Others seem to need the lever pulled away from the housing (across the boat) and those can cause new boaters to inadvertently pull it out as they try to put it in gear. A photo would make things clearer.

 

I the gear cable at the control box end is moving in and out and if you grab it and try to push it in and out and find you can then the clamp inside the control is lose. If it sort of moves through a bit of an arch then that is normal as the end of the cable is moved fore & aft by the gear lever in the control.

 

I assumed this is a single lever control but older outboards often has twin lever controls. Which is yours?

 

I think that you really do need to take the cable off the gearbox lever and ensure:-

 

1. The gearbox works properly when you operate the gearbox lever. (If it wont go into gear with that lever then the box is faulty).

2. The lever is set properly in neutral because at present I suspect with the control in neutral the gearbox lever is off set towards ahead.

3. Once you are sure the disconnected lever is properly in neutral (there should be a detent ball & spring that clicks as it goes into neutral) reconnect the cable adjusting for length as required.

 

If it still will not go into gear with the cable attached then either the cables are in the wrong holes on the control internal levers, the control is badly worn, the gear cable outer is not properly clamped, or the control is not suitable for an inboard engine.

 

If you do not understand what I have written then come back and give us a general boat location just in case another member with knowledge  has time to have a look or someone here who is local can recommend a reliable  engineer to look at it. I don't intend to type the diagnostic steps out yet again.

 

 

[Flyboy]

16 hours ago, Shelley5281 said:

Hi pics of my gear box and oil just above notch is this normal

The thread on the end of the cable looks to be through the clevis rather a lot. This may foul on the lever restricting the movement.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Flyboy

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

The thread on the end of the cable looks to be through the clevis rather a lot. This may foul on the lever restricting the movement.

Well spotted - you certainly would not get as full movement as you would with a shorter thread. But, we don't know if that it fouling.

Maybe the OP can confirm ?

 

@Shelley5281