Throttle Control Issue!

[pennery]

My brother just purchased a 97 Echelon and I own a 94 Echelon. My Transmission has an obvious Clunk when I put it into gear both froward and reverse. I am not sure if his boat has a different transmission but there is no clunk and we always keep over throttling and it just takes off. It is very hard to get used to and we keep yanking on people. My question is if it just a setting in the throttle control (Morse control) or the diference in tranny and there is really nothing we can do about it?

[pennery]

Nobody has any advice for me on this???????

[SAG JUNKY]

I hgd that clunk in an 88 skier one time and it turned out to be at the coupling on the drive shaft. the bolts were loose and needed to be retapped so you could tighten them and they would hold.FWIW Mine had a Borg Warner tranny in it. I first called them to see if I could get any info and they said "Hey if it is working, don't worry, they all can make some different noises." If it isn't slipping I don't think it is your tranny, you can check the kinkage but I doubt that it is out of adjustment unless someone has been playing with it. Good luck.

[Waterbuggy]

Your brothers boat and yours probably both have Velvet drive transmissions by Borg Warner. You may have two issues. Your boat "clunk" could be normal if what you are feeling is the prop thrust when forward position is engaged at engine idle. But it could be loose prop nut, loose shaft coupling to shaft nut, loose shaft coupling to transmission coupling bolts, loose transmission coupling retaining nut, loose engine mounting bolts, worn or failed flex plate or internal transmission issues. The speed control issue with your brothers boat may be due to incorrect throttle setting on the Morse control. When the forward or reverse position is selected, the engine must remain at idle. There is a detent position on the Morse control that indicates when forward or reverse is selected. Disconnect the throttle and transmission cables at the engine and transmission without changing the adjusted lengths. See if the Morse control "clicks" at the forward and reverse position. If not the Morse control may need to be replaced or at least removed and inspected for worn or missing parts. While disconnected check the transmission control lever for full forward and full reverse position. It should "click" in neutral and I think in forward and reverse position. With the Morse control unit in neutral position and the transmission selector lever in neutral, see if the transmission cable connector lines up with the hole in the lever exactly. If not adjust the cable connector to do so. Once the transmission connection is adjusted, check to see if the throttle cable length remains at idle when the forward or reverse position is selected on the Morse control unit. Adjust as needed. Check for full throttle position. This should get you close.

[SmoothWaterMan]

I may be a bit confused on the issue, but here's what I think you are saying.

If you are putting the throttle into gear, but it doesn't appear to be in gear and the engine rpm's start to rise BEFORE the transmission engages, then the throttle cable is out of adjustment. You need to watch the throttle and shift cable with the boat off and make sure the shift cable has stopped moving before there is ANY movement with the throttle cable.

If this is not the issue, but just that you can't tell audibly when the transmission is engaged...well, that's how it should work. A "clunk" into gear is not how it should work on an inboard.

But I'm assuming that it's jerking everyone due to the rpm's starting to rise before the tranny is engaged. Yes/No?

Peter

[pennery]

I guess the clunk I am refferring to is the forward motion of the prop combined with the control click. (CLUNK was probably not the best word to describe it) When I go from nuetral to drive I can tell when it is in gear and the boat obviously starts moving at idle speed so I can fluctuate from nuetral to forward easily to get the rope tight to start pulling a skier. The friction of the cable is easier from neutral to forward than it is from Forward idle to forward full speed. So there is an obvious setting on my control that lets the driver know when it is in gear and that the boat will start moving forward. I really don't think there is anything wrong with mine.

Now my brother's on the other hand feels the same throughout the entire throttle movement. There is no definitive setting to allow the driver to know when the boat is in gear. So what we are forced to do is proceed the throttle slowly forward until the prop starts moving and we are moving in idle speed. At that point we know we are in gear. But if we don't watch ourselves we tend to move the throttle too quickly and it will go in to gear and start the engine RPM'S to increase giving a sort of yanking feeling when we are only trying to tighten the rope at which point we then move it back to neutral.

I guess to summarize My Echelon has a definite spot on the control that I know when it is in gear at idle speed. My brother's Echelon has no spot in the control and it is difficult to predict the location each time going from neutral to forward causing us to sometimes overshoot it. I feel that it is a setting in the control itself and not a tranny issue. If they are the same tranny's and the same controls they should ultimately feel very similar when they don't.

Sorry for the long post

[SmoothWaterMan]

Aha! Yes, that is a better explanation.

What you have a is a broken detent spring on the Morse Control. Get a new one from your dealer and replace it. If you remove your control you'll find a small piece of spring steel on the back of the throttle control, and it snaps in the middle. Remove and replace.

This is common on ski school boats that go in and out of gear millions of times, but can happen to any of the newer controls.

Anyone without a noticable "detent" in their throttle control for forward or reverse locations (otherwise known as "in gear") should check and replace their detent springs as needed.

Peter

[87Skier]

Also sounds to me like your brother's throttle and transmission cables are not adjusted properly. This is an easy fix that you should be able do yourself. Like what was said above, you want your transmission cable to move the transmission into gear before your throttle cable moves the throttle at the engine. At the engine end of the cables you can adjust the cable ends by screwing or unscrewing them.

[VinRLX]

You will need a left-handed adjustable metric wrench for the transmission cable and a right-handed adjustable metric wrench for the throttle cable. If you get into adjusting the packing nut, you'll need larger versions of both.

[uk_exile]

You will need a left-handed adjustable metric wrench for the transmission cable and a right-handed adjustable metric wrench for the throttle cable. If you get into adjusting the packing nut, you'll need larger versions of both.

............isn't adjustable any size & direction ok Must be from the "as seen on tv, can only buy in next 10mins and not only that" shop

[ibelieve]

Also sounds to me like your brother's throttle and transmission cables are not adjusted properly. This is an easy fix that you should be able do yourself. Like what was said above, you want your transmission cable to move the transmission into gear before your throttle cable moves the throttle at the engine. At the engine end of the cables you can adjust the cable ends by screwing or unscrewing them.

I agree ... there should be a delay between when the transmission engages and when the engine throttle starts to advance. This is adjustable!

/Steve

(had a '93' Echelon LX)

[VinRLX]

You will need a left-handed adjustable metric wrench for the transmission cable and a right-handed adjustable metric wrench for the throttle cable. If you get into adjusting the packing nut, you'll need larger versions of both.

............isn't adjustable any size & direction ok Must be from the "as seen on tv, can only buy in next 10mins and not only that" shop

You're new here, aren't you?