Suzuki DF115 shift/throttle after impeller change

[jaydon]

Good morning

Well, yesterday I changed the impeller on my DF115.

A little hard getting the last 5 inches of the shaft clear; but it went well.

Everything went back together fine; including the shift rod connection.

BUT, after getting it back together, going into fwd gear is ok, but as I continue into the throttle portion of the shift it gets really stiff.

Reverse seems to be ok.

I haven't tried it with the engine running yet to make sure the prop is turning in the correct fwd/rev directions [or that it just doesn't stay in 'N'].

Other than pulling the lower end again; any suggestions what to look for?

Thanks

Jay

[Chisox]

Pull your cowling off, put your shift lever in neutral, note the position of the shift linkage. Now shift into forward and note the position again, same with reverse. Disconnect the shift cable (you need to remove the starboard side lower pan to do this)and manually move the shift linkage into forward and reverse. If the linkage positions are the same, then the problem doesn't lie in the LU reassembly, as once the shifter has put the motor into gear, the shift cable is no longer being acted upon.

[jaydon]

Well, here's how it went.

Pulled the lower cover. Disconnected the shift and throttle linkages and hand operated both control points on the engine. They both operated smoothly.

While still disconnected, I operated the shift/throttle lever on the console. It was very smooth.

Then connected the throttle linkage and it was fine.

Disconnected the throttle again and connected the shift.

Hard to operate.

I did notice that when I disconnected the throttle linkage, the cable end stayed put.

When I disconnected the shift linkage, the cable wanted to move toward the engine; almost like the connection point was too far outboard (stbd).

I think this 'misalignment' is causing the problem; but for the life of me, I can't imagine how it came to be.

All cables are wrapped together - gas, electric, shift & throttle cables - and are locked in when the cover is installed.

Also there is the tab that holds the cables to the side of the engine.

I'm at a loss.

Jay

[Chisox]

Jay,

Zukes are a piece of cake to rig (except for pulling that lower cowling off... ), but the grommet that all the harnessing, fuel line, batt cables, and shift/throttle cables are located/nested in is a major PITA! That being said, you didn't have this issue before the impeller replacement, the rigging wasn't touched. Might be time to pull the LU and try to re-install...

Edited May 23, 2010 by 250 Osprey