Prop spins in neutral

[caretta]

Hello everyone,

We bought an Ericsson 35 with Atomic 4 last fall. It had been on the hard for 2 years prior to our purchase and is still on stands next to the house. It appears that the prop shaft continues to turn in neutral. I have looked into the reversing gear the shifting yoke appears to move the operating cone well in and out of forward. There is a slight amount amount of play in the clutch disks in neutral when jiggled with a screw driver. I tried to increase the travel of the operating cone a bit by turning the reverse adjusting nut slightly counterclockwise. It "feels" smoother at the pedestal shifter but the shaft still spins when I "bump" the starter. Any other suggestions and can this be even be adjusted out of the water? I would like to move onto servicing the cooling system and converting to FWC before moving it out to the mooring.

Thanks

Chris

[zellerj]

My prop spins in nuetral too, but without much force. I can grab the shaft and just the friction of my hand stops it. If yours is like that, then I think it is normal. In the water the prop does not rotate with enough force to move the boat.

[BadaBing]

My prop also turnes slowly when engine is running and it is in neutral. Even in the waternat the dock, sometimes. But if I just step on the adapter plate it stops turning. I think it is just the oil.between the plates transfering the movement. Finding just the right spot to have the shifter in, when in neutral, will prevent it from.starting to slin but, in my boat, its a very sweet spot. I normally pay it no mind.

[Mo]

Originally Posted by caretta

Hello everyone,

We bought an Ericsson 35 with Atomic 4 last fall. It had been on the hard for 2 years prior to our purchase and is still on stands next to the house. It appears that the prop shaft continues to turn in neutral. I have looked into the reversing gear the shifting yoke appears to move the operating cone well in and out of forward. There is a slight amount amount of play in the clutch disks in neutral when jiggled with a screw driver. I tried to increase the travel of the operating cone a bit by turning the reverse adjusting nut slightly counterclockwise. It "feels" smoother at the pedestal shifter but the shaft still spins when I "bump" the starter. Any other suggestions and can this be even be adjusted out of the water? I would like to move onto servicing the cooling system and converting to FWC before moving it out to the mooring.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris
Welcome aboard. Order a Manual from MMI. What you are experiencing isn't that uncommon and your's likely is set close to perfect...any adjustment without reading through the manual might actually put your performance off. Do some reading and get an understanding how it all works. You will do fine.

[dthibaul]

I agree with the others. This is normal- mine does the same thing. I only worry about it when I am operating the engine with the boat on the hard, and in those cases (flushing the engine at the end of the season, starting the engine for launch prep), I can manually adjust the shift lever on the engine with the engine cover off and visually see the shaft and adjust until there is no movement.

[Boat]

Ditto on the above, Mine does it. just piling on to show its normal.

[caretta]

Thanks for the reassurance with all the prompt replies