Shift cable/shift lever question.

[Badger, C-27, N.H.]

I recently freed up a frozen shift cable on my newly aquired A-4. When I disconected the cable from the shift lever at the engine I noticed that the cable was adjusted so that the engine lever could not go all the way forward when shifted from the cockpit.

While shifting the engine lever manually with the engine not running, I could feel it click into place when pushing it all the way forward. Is that the forward gear position? Should the cable be adjusted so that when I shift from the cockpit it clicks the engine lever into the all the way forward position?

This is in a 1974 Catalina 27 that has been out of the water for 2 or 3 seasons.

[jhwelch]

You definitely want the shift lever to get to the "click" position. Over
the winter I was into this area of my engine and had to adjust
a turnbuckle on my shift cable to achieve this position.

-jonathan

[Don Moyer]

Badger,

Absolutely!! The cable travel should be adjusted so that the shifting lever in the cockpit has the ability of moving the lever on the engine exactly as you were able to do at the engine.

It's especially important to get the reversing gear into the forward detent, because otherwise you'll have to hold the forward clutch assembly engaged by holding constant pressure on the ball bearing of the operating cone. This bearing was not designed to withstand constant side loading and if it fails, the operating cone is in the small group of parts that is extremely difficult for which to find replacements.

Don

[Badger, C-27, N.H.]

I think I've got it working now.

Thanks Don and Jon.

It may have been just the frozen cable all along. When I worked on it today I got the cable to work a lot better and freed up the adjuster and it reached to the lever in the forward position nearly where it was originally adjusted. I re-adjusted it anyway and it seems to work good. Shifting from the cockpit I can now feel it click into forward.

Thanks for the detailed tips. I will double check the adjustments.

Badger