No Neutral?

[1960CROD]

Can someone help me? I'm not sure where to post. And I'm sorry to be the new on the forum. :/

I did a search and found three results . This seemed to be the best

My atomic 4 runs great in forward or reverse. But when left in neutral slips into a grinding sound and stalls out the motor. Shifting is easy with the same force it's always took. Runs great in gear at all rpm ranges. No vibration in gear. A little whine in reverse. Just won't give me neutral.

I have ordered a book but it hasn't arrived yet and Google's for day . It doesn't seem like anyone else has had this issue and I'm honestly a bit lost. Would be nice to talk to someone who knows these power units.

Thanks.

[Al Schober]

1960..
This should be a new thread. Perhaps we can get our admin to move it??
Hopefully the book you ordered is the Moyer Manual. Its instructions for transmission adjustment should help.
Sounds like your fwd and reverse are fighting each other. What you have to do is loosen your reverse adjustment until you have a neutral position. This may also require adjusting your shift cable so you can get reverse to engage fully.

[JOHN COOKSON]

1960
Welcome to the forum. Hope you stick around. You will learn about your engine, boat, and even a few things about life itself. We're pretty much full service.
Al has a couple of good ideas. Try disconnecting the control cable at the transmission and shifting the transmission by hand with the control lever. If the problem persists the trany needs attention. If the problem goes away the cable is at fault.
To start a new thread scroll down to "discussion topics" on the forum home page and click on the appropriate topic. As I recall there is a reversing gear or transmission topic. Click on the start a new thread in the upper left.
As mentioned be sure and obtain a copy of the Moyer Manuel.
Best of luck to you.

TRUE GRIT

[JOHN COOKSON]

My atomic 4 runs great in forward or reverse. But when left in neutral slips into a grinding sound and stalls out the motor. Shifting is easy with the same force it's always took. Runs great in gear at all rpm ranges. No vibration in gear. A little whine in reverse. Just won't give me neutral.
Thanks.

Have you checked the advance? It sounds as if the distributor advance is stuck in the advance position.

TRUE GRIT

[capnkenny]

Sounds like the clutch plates are frozen together.

[Al Schober]

I don't think it would run great in reverse if that were the case...

[sallyjane823]

No Neutral

I am having the same problem getting into neutral with my Atomic 4. I have the documentation from Moyer Marine showing how to adjust the reversing gear but my mechanic is still having difficulty. We can manually put it into neutral but when the engine is running it pops out of neutral.

[Al Schober]

Sally,
You say you shift manually, but it pops out of neutral? Is your external shift linkage pushing things out of neutral?
Disconnect the external linkage from the transmission lever, then try shifting the transmission just using the lever on the transmission. What happens?
The way to get the linkage and the transmission working together is not difficult, but requires a certain sequence. First step is to disconnect the linkage from the transmission and shift the transmission into fwd. Then move the linkage to the fwd position and see how the holes align. The linkage must be adjusted to give just a bit more stroke than needed going into forward. This adjustment may be as simple as a few turns on the yoke on the end of the core of the cable, or it may require moving the point where the end of the jacket is anchored near the transmission. This will get fwd where it should be. Attach the linkage to the transmission lever.
Next, reverse. First, open the transmission and loosen the reverse adjustment. Then use the linkage to shift to the full reverse position. With the linkage there, tighten the reverse adjustment until you can't turn the shaft by hand. Then move the linkage toward the neutral position and tighten the reverse adjustment another 3 flats.
Doing this should give you a good forward and a good reverse - everything in between is neutral.
In my experience, most shifting problems are due to the external linkage being adjusted improperly. Let's say both transmission and linkage want to move 4", or +/- 2". When you put the transmission in fwd, let's say that's the +2" position. If the linkage is in the +2" position, fine. If the linkage is in the +1" position, that's when problems start. It will shift fine into fwd (linkage still has another 1" to go but never gets there). But when the linkage goes the other way, problems start. Linkage goes to -2", but transmission only goes to -1" (3" from full fwd). Operator doesn't get any reverse response from the transmission, so he tightens the reverse adjustment. When he tightens enough to get reverse, there's little or no neutral - or perhaps reverse and fwd are engaged at the same time.

[Al Schober]

Sally,
Another thought (gee, two in one day??)
I've also seen cases where the shift cable wasn't moving +/- 2". Turns out the attachment for the jacket had come loose at one end or the other (usually in the bilge). Cable might move +/- 2" with no load on it, but once loaded would only move +/- 1" - the jacket was moving the rest of the distance.
This happened on my Tartan 30. Engine end of the jacket is anchored to a wood block bonded to the hull. Block had come unbonded, so things were just sort of floating (and definitely not shifting properly). Had to rebond the block and replace the shift cable.

[sallyjane823]

That all sounds like great advice, but I am not mechanically inclined enough to tackle these instructions. I was hoping to find someone in Northeast Florida who is even familiar with the Atomic 4, but no luck yet...

[JOHN COOKSON]

That all sounds like great advice, but I am not mechanically inclined enough to tackle these instructions. I was hoping to find someone in Northeast Florida who is even familiar with the Atomic 4, but no luck yet...

823
Al gave some great and comprehensive advice in posts #8 & 9.
I can understand how it might be a bit overwhelming to the uninitiated. The entire shift mechanism consists of two parts: The boats part (the shift lever and cabling to the transmission) and the transmission itself. A large number of shift problems are caused by cable maladjustment. This is easy to fix. So the first step is to figure out if the problem is caused cable maladjustment or some problem in the transmission itself.
So what I would like you to do is disconnect the shift cable from the transmission and shift by using the lever on the side of the transmission and report back whether or not you are getting normal shift function. We'll go from there and let you know what to do next.

TRUE GRIT

[BunnyPlanet169]

823
Al gave some great and comprehensive advice in posts #8 & 9.
I can understand how it might be a bit overwhelming to the uninitiated. The entire shift mechanism consists of two parts: The boats part (the shift lever and cabling to the transmission) and the transmission itself. A large number of shift problems are caused by cable maladjustment. This is easy to fix. So the first step is to figure out if the problem is caused cable maladjustment of some problem in the transmission itself.
So what I would like you to do is disconnect the shift cable from the transmission (lever) and shift by using the lever on the side of the transmission and report back whether or not you are getting normal shift function. We'll go from there and let you know what to do next.

TRUE GRIT

This is really good advice.

[sallyjane823]

823
Al gave some great and comprehensive advice in posts #8 & 9.
I can understand how it might be a bit overwhelming to the uninitiated. The entire shift mechanism consists of two parts: The boats part (the shift lever and cabling to the transmission) and the transmission itself. A large number of shift problems are caused by cable maladjustment. This is easy to fix. So the first step is to figure out if the problem is caused cable maladjustment of some problem in the transmission itself.
So what I would like you to do is disconnect the shift cable from the transmission and shift by using the lever on the side of the transmission and report back whether or not you are getting normal shift function. We'll go from there and let you know what to do next.

TRUE GRIT

OK, I am going to try it. Thanks for the encouragement you guys; it really helps. I had a local mechanic attempt to fix the problem, and he told me the cable was not the problem. He then disconnected it and tried to adjust the reversing gear using the information I showed him from my Atomic 4 manual from Moyer Marine. After he tried the adjustment, he started the engine but the lever would not stay in reverse. He said he put everything back the way it was, but the next day we left that marina and noticed we now couldn't get all the way into forward either! It will move forward, but stays at high RPM. So they made it worse than before. I don't want to go back to them (Camachee Cove Boat Yard). I have asked to talk to that mechanic again, to find out exactly what problem he encountered. And then will try your suggestions.

[BunnyPlanet169]

SJ: Note that the reverse part is normal - the transmission doesn't have a detent for reverse - you usually have to hold it there.

Reading your description the problem may be inside, but for the purposes of troubleshooting, try John's linkage isolation idea first to confirm.

[JOHN COOKSON]

OK, I am going to try it. Thanks for the encouragement you guys; it really helps. I had a local mechanic attempt to fix the problem, and he told me the cable was not the problem. He then disconnected it and tried to adjust the reversing gear using the information I showed him from my Atomic 4 manual from Moyer Marine. After he tried the adjustment, he started the engine but the lever would not stay in reverse. He said he put everything back the way it was, but the next day we left that marina and noticed we now couldn't get all the way into forward either! It will move forward, but stays at high RPM. So they made it worse than before. I don't want to go back to them (Camachee Cove Boat Yard). I have asked to talk to that mechanic again, to find out exactly what problem he encountered. And then will try your suggestions.

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Ditch the mechanic. Go with us.
This forum is a national treasure. Well not quite not quite but you catch my drift. You will learn much, much about your boat and engine and build confidence in yourself and your abilities. Nobody was born knowing anything about boats or A4s. You can learn it also just like we all did.

TRUE GRIT