Difficulty going into forward gear after the exhaust manifold gasket was replaced.

jmartin

Hey guys,

I could really use some help here.  I have a 2008 Hurricane 2400SD with a Mercruiser I/O.  We bought it late this past winter with only 80 hours on it.  Now it has a total of 130 hours on it.  We bought it on consignment from the original dealer who has done all the maintenance on this boat.  Upon purchase, we had the dealer do the full 80 hour check-up/maintenance.  It has been an amazing boat until recently when we noticed that we were losing some power and speed and the engine sounded differently.  We took it in (same dealer) and they replaced the gasket on the exhaust manifold.  We got it back two weeks ago and we have run it for approximately 10-15 hours since then.  It runs just like it did when we first bought it with one exception.

The exception is that since we got it back after the gasket on the exhaust manifold was replaced, it has had difficulty going into forward gear.  It goes into reverse without any issues.  When you push the throttle forward, the RPM's will rev up but it will not go into gear for a few seconds or until the RPM's really increase.  Then the engine jumps into gear and runs perfect until you put it back into neutral again.

The dealer is now saying that he has not finished the diagnostics but it does not look good.  He said that they will have to take the lower unit apart and check several other items.  He is going to call back later with the full diagnostic and estimate.

The boat NEVER had this problem until they replaced the exhaust manifold.  What do you think the real problems is? Do you have to take off the throttle body to get to the gasket on the exhaust manifold?  Could this be the cause?  Other thoughts?

Thank you very much for your time and input!

cjjjdeck

Welcome to the Owners Forum, jmartin!

What Mercruiser engine and drive do you have on your boat? 

jmartin

Mercruiser 350 MAG mpi.

cjjjdeck

From what you are describing, I thought it sounded more like you have a shift cable that needs to be adjusted. 

I contacted my dealer, who is a Mercruiser dealer, copied him on your post and this is what he told me.

"THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE SHIFT CABLE FROM THE CONTROL AND TO THE DRIVE WAS TAKEN APART FOR THE GASKET INSTALLATION AND PUT BACK WITH OUT EQUALIZING THE ADJUSTMENT FOR FORWARD AND REVERSE. THE BOAT NEEDS TO BE RUN AND HAVE THE CONTROL CABLES ADJUSTED."

Hope this helps.