Enfield z drive won't stay in gear

[Don't tell him Pike!]

Hi,

My z drive was damaged after becoming trapped between lock gates last week, the swivel plate broke on one side allowing the fork to become loose and the drive shaft to pop out of the cv. A limp home bodge was done to get it back into position and this has held, initially it was very difficult to engage reverse but otherwise ok, but after using reverse when entering a lock it now won't stay in forward gear unless I stay at low revs and tug the gear selector with the boat hook. Even then it pops out every couple of minutes. Reverse works fine.

Work commitments mean I need to navigate the trent in a week or so so I need to be able to trust it to stay in gear.

Any help much appreciated.

[Alan de Enfield]

Sorry cannot be any constructive help, apart from to say DO NOT go on the Trent with a faulty gearbox.

 

You know it will 'go' just as you pass a weir, or the tide turns or whatever, it will always be at the worst possible moment.

 

Hire a car, take a bus, ride a bike or even take a holiday from work - better to arrive late than not arrive at all.

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Look at the adjustment in the gear/throttle lever see if you can gain any greater movement in the gear selector on the leg.

[TheBiscuits]

I echo Alan: Don't go on the Trent without a gearbox you trust.

 

That being said, you should be able to adjust the gear cable at the connection to the gear selector lever on the Z-Drive, NOT at the Morse lever end.

 

They are notoriously picky about where they are set, and the classic symptom of maladjustment is that they stay in one gear but skip out of the other.

 

I suspect either your accident or your bodge job have thrown out this adjustment, so alter it slightly - it is usually out by a couple of turns or less when skipping.

 

Detach the cable end from the lever and rotate it to either lengthen or shorten the throw on the cable.

 

Also check the cable is not kinked near the selector lever, or you will really struggle to get a smooth engage of gear.