Not engaging into gear right away

[Lisasammy]

I have a 1990 Carver santego with twin volvo pentas. Shifting into neutral has always been tricky. It's almost like I have to shift past neutral first before it will go into neutral but I just got used to doing that. Now a new problem that just happened, is when going into reverse it didn't engage right away until I gave it more throttle then it made a loud slam into gear. The first time I noticed something wasn't right is when I was pulling in my slip and put the port engine into reverse, in and out quickly just to slow me down, and it didn't go into gear so I quickly through the starboard engine in reverse. Has anyone else had this problem or know what it could be. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Lisa

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum.......is this an outdrive boat ?

[Lisasammy]

Hi, it's an I/O

[Viper]

More equipment info would help. Is it a Mercruiser, Volvo? What model sterndrive? If it's a Mercruiser, the most common culprit for both Alpha and Bravo drives is the lower shift cable. You can try adjusting but if it started off as a minor issue and getting progressively worse, it's a pretty good bet the cable needs to be replaced. Other possibilities are improper idle rpm, bad interrupt circuit/hardware (Alpha), bad remote/shifter, wrong gear lube, worn internal drive components, etc.

[bud37]

I think Lisa said they were volvo pentas if that helps....I have zero experience with them.

[Lisasammy]

Yes, they are volvo pentas. I'm wondering if the cables need tightened. Im hoping its nothing too serious. What other information would help?

[Viper]

Do you know the model and serial number of the drive? Volvo will have a single cable from the drive to the remote at the helm. Do you know if it has ever been changed? When was the last time the gear lube was checked/changed?

[Lisasammy]

Since I've owned it for 3 years the cable has not been changed. Gear lube checked beginning of season. Not at Boat to look up serial number. I don't seem to get as much speed full throttle as I did when first purchased. When it should be in neutral, it's still moving. I have to bump it past neutral then back in again to go into neutral, and now not engaging until giving more throttle.

[km1125]

Sounds like something is either loose, or a cable is stretched.

[Lisasammy]

I'll check the cables and see if that helps. Thank you