Neutral "sweet spot" for starting engines

[Hart]

My port gear lever on the upper helm is getting a little finicky as far as seating itself smack in the "neutral sweet spot" (as I call it) so that the engine will start. I was having a little trouble getting it just right so that engine would fire last weekend. It happened once before, but corrected pretty quickly. This time, it took a fair amount more of jimmying the lever until it finally fired. I think it may need an adjustment...........somewhere.

Any ideas?

[yorklyn]

there is a neutral indicator switch on the tranny . They wear out on occasion. the one on my velvet dries was very easy to replace . mine started acting just like yours and eventually quit completely. I bypassed mine to get home then replaced it immediately as its a very important safety device. on mine there were two wires attached with screws to the switch. to bipass it you simply attach the two wires together to make a circuit. I think the switch is held in with two screws as well.
Good Luck

[The Dog House]

If you're having trouble finding the neutral "sweet spot", turn the key to the start position and jiggle the lever. When you hear the engine begin to start stop moving the lever. It's not a perfect solution but it works.

[Hart]

Todd: I appreciate that. I'll probably do both. Any idea who might carry those switches? If they're not too much $$ (and it's an easy fix) I'll probably do both. Exactly how much of a safety issue would it present if I were to simply connect the two wires and leave it at that, at least for a while?

Dog: I was doing that, figuring it would quickly give me an indication where the lever wanted to be to start the engine.................didn't work well at all. I appreciate your input as well.

Thanks, both.

[yorklyn]

you will need to confirm exactly what switch you need but here is one for the 71c and 72c trannies to give you some idea of what they run.
http://www.michiganmotorz.com/neutral-s ... vHSSPD_BwE
I would only by-pass it to get home in an emergency. if you by-pass it the ending can start with the tranny in gear. very dangerous for swimmers .

[yorklyn]

by the way, I did a quick google search and the above link was the first one i found. I know nothing about that particular company.

[LandVF36]

Last time I had the shift linkage apart mine worked like this...
Under the cover on the helm, there is a spring loaded ball in the shift lever that slides on a arc shaped plate. In the center of the plate, there is hole drilled which is the neutral spot. I could not "feel" neutral as over the past 40 years, a grove had cut its way in the plate and the ball had worn down. i went to the hardware store and got a ball bearing a few thousands larger than the one i had a slightly stiffer spring. That fixed the lever and I had the neutral spot back, but the sweet spot was not neutral. Then, down in the engine room where the cable meets the tranny, I had to adjust the cable about 1/4 inch shorter. Then all was well.

[Big D]

My port gear lever on the upper helm is getting a little finicky as far as seating itself smack in the "neutral sweet spot"....

If you have upper and lower stations, the neutral detent at the upper station should be disengaged and operating off the lower helm only, if done right. Check the shifter at the upper but check the lower helm also, you may find a problem there as mentioned above. Certainly the switch on the tranny will contribute to this problem, so will a stretched shift cable which is not good for the tranny as it may not fully engage the clutch plates.

[Hart]

Thanks again to everyone for all the input. It certainly gives me good starting points for a fix.