Boat not going forward

[Kevin_B]

Was out on my Parents 2005 216 yesterday and all of the sudden we were picking up a rider and went to put it from neutral into gear and all it did was rev. It would reverse but it would never actually go into gear moving forward. tried a few different things with the throttle and had no such luck. Wasn't far from home so I reversed back the dock (that was fun).

Any ideas?

[mrbobolina]

Hmm that is odd. If it were a car, you would have two things to look at. Either your tranny is fkd, which you would hear or smell. Or your clutch is not engaging correctly. This would be your throttle arm.

I have a '97 SNOB. My throttle arm saftey button was cracked and allowed the throttle to slip. So when I hit forwared I got a rev, and reverse I got the gear. I am not sure if yours could be the same thing, but I woudl start at the throttle lever, and release switch on the throttle.

There are not a whole lot of variables.

[gride300]

take the plastic cover off the engine and check to see if the throttle cable linkage is attached. sometimes it comes undone.

[mrbobolina]

take the plastic cover off the engine and check to see if the throttle cable linkage is attached. sometimes it comes undone.

Would this impact forward versus reverse? I would imagine this would be all or nothing when engaging forward or reverse right?

[gride300]

i want to say you can still idle, but im not sure. def. no mechanic here. still worth a check. take all of 2 minutes.

[pdxCC]

You might want to check the linkae at the tranny. I could see this getitng out of adjustment and having the "throw" of the engagment be biased to reverse only. It might be as simple as re-centering the engagement at the tranny.

[j2nh]

With the engine off and the box up try shifting and watch the cable at the tranny and see if it has a full range of motion. Check the fluid while you are at it. My guess would be a cable or linkage problem.
Let us know what you find.

[skijones]

Check the cable ends at the throttle arm. You can usually reach up there and tell if they are attached. I had both of mine (throttle and trans) just about completely wear thru on an '85.

You can also disconnect the cable on the trans and put it in and out of gear by hand, with the boat running. From experience, I would recommend two people for this operation.