Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I have ran into a bit of a problem, more than likely self created lol as most of them are. any way, I have been doing a bit of work that included pulling apart my old commander 2000 and cleaning and lubing it it up. I also dropped the LU and put in a complete water pump.. Now for some reason it dose not want to shift right. Their is no adjustment in the LU and I measured the shift cable travel on the shifter and that's 1.1/2 both ways and that seams about right to me, I was thinking if it was out of whack it wouldn't be the same distance in both directions, forward and reverse. I really would hate to take it back apart. Just wondering if any of you guys know.

Sux to have trouble, mate
A number of questions:

First question is what type of motor are you running?
If it is an I/O, it is very common to miss the little hookup 'latch' thingy when putting the lower back on. When done right, your Commander cable 'talks' to your 'secondary shift cable' which is a shorter cable running thru the gimbal housing. This secondary cable just sort of pokes out of your transom assembly and SHOULD automatically hook into a set of 'jaws' when you put the lower on.

Another spot to check is in your controller if you were poking about. It sounds as if the throw is right. Does your main shift cable move almost immediately when you move the Commander handle?

What are the symptoms? Does it not shift at all, or is it hard to shift? Don't try to force it when not running. If you are checking this on the trailer, have a helper rotate the prop when you shift.

its a small outboard, and the cable movement is instant, it dose not seam to have any slack pick up in the controller. I took it off of the boat and brought it inside so I could take a closer look just so I could watch the movement. When I was adjusting on the motor it was more than likely me not getting things set right at the time it was in a 20 mph wind and it was 25 degrees and my hands went numb, It is moving it and it is shifting from neutral to reverse but wasn't going into forward. That`s what had me wondering about the travel.

You are right on top of it, James.
From what you say in ur reply, your shift cable is out of adjustment at the motor.
Good luck, should be an easy fix.

You know some times I really hate my boat, after freezing my hands and a$$ off the other day, then taking the controller and cables off and bringing them into the warm to make sure I had put that back together right and it was, went back down today and reinstalled and it works just fine. Its enough to make me start drinking again.

My only guess is it was the cold and a cable or some thing was hanging up.

Glad you fixed the problem, working on things in cold temps seems to double the troubles, concentration is affected.
I can't work in gloves, even those mechanic style gloves, I need to "feel" the bolts getting started in the threads. I cut the thumb and index fingers off a pair of cheap jersey gloves, that way I can pick up small screws, washers, etc., pop a top on a beer can, or pick my nose if needed.