shift level cable attachment point

[LPBlues]

HI all,
I'm new to the A4, I have one built around 1980 though my boat is older. I noticed how much force it seems to take to put the gear into 'forward'. I also noticed that the gear shift cable was attached to the lowest hole on the shift lever but that there was another hole a couple of inches higher up empty. IF I moved the cable to the higher hole wouldn't that increase the leverage and reduce the effort to put it into gear? I'm assuming it would also increase the distance of the shift lever travel. I think the hole in the fiberglass at the back of the engine compartment is big enough to handle the move...

Thoughts?

[Roadking Larry]

You want leverage. Depending on the orientation of the lever and linkage you want the cable attached to give you the most leverage relative to the center of the mechanism. Changing the position of where the cable attaches will change leverage and the length of throw of the cable.
Mine is oriented with the shift lever in the cockpit up and the section of the lever inside the lazerette points down and the cable is attached at the hole farthest from pivot the point. If my sleep deprived brain is working right, that gives me the most leverage and the longest throw of the cable.

Have you lubed the cable?

[ndutton]

It does take a considerable amount of force to shift an A-4 into forward, that's why the cable is the biggest in boating. If your observation is comparative to other boats/engines, it sounds normal. If you're having difficulty shifting, that's not normal and modifying for more leverage is masking the problem.

The Catalina 30 shift cable approaches the engine from the rear and low, beneath the cabin sole. It attaches to the short bottom part of the shift lever, probably the least leverage of any installation around but we're still able to shift.

Another issue may develop by moving the attachment point on the shift lever. If you have pedestal steering with the shifter mounted on the pedestal, those shifters have limited travel. You may find yourself with more leverage but not enough cable travel to fully engage forward detent or a decent reverse.

You may want to try removing the cable at the shift lever and shifting by hand at the dock to compare the required force and determine if there's a trans or cable issue.

[JOHN COOKSON]

I've noticed it is a lot easier to shift my A4 in and out of gear when the engine is running.
Has your engine always needed a lot of force to shift? If this is a new problem you need to find the cause not increase the shifting force to overcome it.
Welcome to the forum. You are at the right place for all things A4 related. And most things not A4 related.

TRUE GRIT

[romantic comedy]

first I would check to see that the cable and the shift mechanism is free and lubricated.

[LPBlues]

the boat is new to me so I don't know the history. It does shift but just with a surprising effort. I think the previous owner said he had replaced the cable in the last few years.

Roadking: I don't know if he lubed it or not. I haven't :-)

Thanks for the welcome John.

ndutton, I'll give that a try when I can get to her next with some free time. I have tiller steering. I have plenty of room for shifter movement in the cockpit, The shifter is almost vertical when in gear (forward) and I have room to travel to horizontal… not sure about how that would work everywhere, but I think the extra inch or two from attaching higher on the shift lever in the engine compartment shouldn't cause any problems.

[JOHN COOKSON]

Blues
Here's what worked for me.
Disconnect the shift cable and shift into forward gear fully using the shift lever on the engine. Next adjust the cable so when the cockpit lever is at the stop in forward position the cable will be the right length to fully engage the tranny in forward.
Do the same for reverse.
You will most likely have to adjust the cockpit lever throw and the cable length so the engine shifts fully into forward and reverse.
From your description it sounds like the PO didn't go through this procedure. Maybe the cable is not the right length or something like that. Maybe this is causing the hard shifting - that is not enough cockpit lever throw.
There is an adjustment inside the tranny but see if you can get it this way first.

TRUE GRIT

Is this your first sail boat?

[jbsoukup]

I replaced my old cable and it made a big difference in effort.
if you remove the cable at both ends you can try to push/pull and see how free it is. it should move easily.
that being said, the a-4's I've run across all shift pretty hard

[John Greenstone]

I just had the opposite situation yesterday: After reinstalling my newly top-overhauled engine, I discovered the transmission cable was never quite set up correctly, not enough travel for the position on the shifter-lever. So I ended up removing the lever, taking it to work, and drilling a new hole about 3 inches lower than the original (which was up near the top of the lever), thus allowing the lever to travel its full range within the limits of the cable. Works great, just takes a bit more effort to pop it into forward, but nothing major.

[russg]

I have the problem of having the shift lever cable attached to bottom of tranny shift arm (only place to connect cable due to space limitations for routing the cable). However, this also means that my pedestal shift lever only provides for reverse shift in forward position and reverse shift in back position....the cable set up in the pedestal cannot be reversed (Yacht Specialties pedestal) Same is true for throttle lever. My boat is a 1978 Catalina 30 with A4 engine.

Anyone have a solution to getting these cables set up to work in the correct direction?

Russ G
russgrant43@gmail.com

[ndutton]

Take a real hard look at remounting the entire throttle and shift head 180° even if you have to drill and tap new mounting holes.

[TomG]

If Neil's idea isn't possible, could you move the shifter mechanism to the other side of the pedestal?

[cygnus x1]

Neil,
I have a '80 C30 and was wondering how your shift cable in the engine compartment is mounted? Is it like what is shown in the C30 parts manual...on the right rear of engine to a L-bracket, with stop clamp and attached to the top hole of the shift lever arm (on right of engine)? I have something different. It is attached to a block of wood under the cabin floor, just left of the opening for the stuffing box. The stop clamp is attached there, with the shift arm attached to the left side of the engine and cable end attached to the bottom of the arm. I found this when I was having trouble shifting and installed a new cable. Since then the stop clamp has come loose twice, plus it's a PITA to get under the wood block to tighten the cable stop clamp.

[ndutton]

Jeff, I'm pretty embarrassed by these pictures. They're from a long time ago before I really got after cleaning things up but they serve to illustrate the discussion. Before anybody says it, I know there's only one clamp on the shaft log so spare me the grief, will ya?

The shift cable approaches the engine from the rear below the cabin sole on the port side of the engine. It is clamped to the underside on a small wood shim with two flathead machine screws through the sole (see picture, the other flathead machine screw is under the carpet). Note that a regular clamp will not do, it must be the Morse style clamp with the dimple to index the cable groove. I strongly recommend Nylok nuts.


The shift arm is mounted on the port side of the engine, top of the arm is cut off just above the picture and the shift cable attaches to the lower part of the arm. As in the picture, with a pedestal shifter it's critical to attach the clevis to the upper hole for enough shaft rotation with limited cable travel.

[cygnus x1]

Neil,
Thanks for the pictures....confirms what I have is (somewhat) correct. So I just need to remove it and make a new one. I think mine is a piece of 2 X 4 pine, so the PO redid it, but used wood screws, not bolts and nuts. Wood is old and rotted. I will redo with thinner hardwood and correct hardware so I can get under it to tighten properly. I do have the morse clamp with a raised ridge to fit the cable groove, but same problem, secured with wood screws.

BTW, mine isn't any cleaner! And I got busted by the guy who did the survey on mine and had to add a second clamp.

[The Garbone]

Do you think a chunk of that new synthetic deck material would work/ fit under the sole?

I am putting in my cables in the next week or so and need to fab that block also.