Shifter in gear and turned boat off

[4day!!]

Quick question. Last summer I let my cousin drive my boat. he was not familiar enough with the off shore controls and turned the boat off with it in gear. Yes it was at idle. It has a 496 bravo1. When i went to put it back into nuetral i had a hell of time getting it to go back to neutral. Felt like i was going to break something.I finally got it in nuetral and the boat fired up and no probs. Is there a sequence or something to do if this were to happen again. (although i will make damn sure any else who drives it knows better)

[jdf]

you drive all the time

[phebus]

I can't blame a cousin, I've done that same thing myself. :hammerhea

[4day!!]

you drive all the time
yeah, thats probably the safest bet.

[Ivan Dan]

I can't blame a cousin, I've done that same thing myself. :hammerhea
I've done it too....in fact one of the first times I took my boat out when it was new I did it and I FREAKED out because I thought the thing just died on me in the middle of the lake. I was just about to call Magic and let them have it when I thought....OK lets run through this whole process....DUUUHHHHHHH. I never had any issues with getting it back into nuetral though.

[4day!!]

I've done it too....in fact one of the first times I took my boat out when it was new I did it and I FREAKED out because I thought the thing just died on me in the middle of the lake. I was just about to call Magic and let them have it when I thought....OK lets run through this whole process....DUUUHHHHHHH. I never had any issues with getting it back into nuetral though.
That was my initial thought too. I assumed it was in nuetral and went to start it and nothing. I thought what the hell did you just do to my boat in the last 5 minutes. And then realized it was still in gear. It was pretty difficult to get it back in nuetral.

[Havasu Hangin']

Steady pressure works best on mine. If I try to force it...it could get ugly.
:notam:

[Midlife Advantage]

That was my initial thought too. I assumed it was in nuetral and went to start it and nothing. I thought what the hell did you just do to my boat in the last 5 minutes. And then realized it was still in gear. It was pretty difficult to get it back in nuetral.
I have the 496 package also, and have done the same thing, numerous times. especially when u pull into a spot in the channel, run it up, then kill it so you dont suck sand up in your drive. I dont think its a problem, but it really is tough to get outta gear and into neutral. Its just stuck in gear with some torque and you havta work it to get it out. Probably not good for the linkage, which is taking all of the pressure, but I can't imagine it hurting the gears, anyone disagree?
If it was a problem, then that would be a flaw in my eyes, cause that will happen all the time.

[mike37]

ben there dun that
just give it steady pressure not hard it will go in to neutral

[phebus]

I bet you could bypass the neutral safety switch, and just start it in gear. Accessing the wires might be tough, but if it was the best option, I would look at what and where now, so the next time it happens, it would be an easy fix. Could even install a bypass switch.
I've had it happen when the boat has stalled going on or off trailer.

[Havasu Hangin']

Its just stuck in gear with some torque and you havta work it to get it out. Probably not good for the linkage, which is taking all of the pressure, but I can't imagine it hurting the gears, anyone disagree?
If it was a problem, then that would be a flaw in my eyes, cause that will happen all the time.
Just bypass the neutral switch, and start it in gear...no worries.
:cool:
PS- try not to rev it before you get it in neutral, though... :supp:

[burtandnancy]

Never take a bravo driven boat home without the switch which allows you to start in gear. Over time it will save you much grief and down time...

[Mandelon]

I've done it a couple of times. I sort of wiggled it a bit and it popped back into neutral.
I got sand in the shifter linkage on my old jet once. Stuck in reverse and couldn't get it out....headed right for some other boats...shut it down and fended off in a hurry. I thought for sure I would break the cable. I sent a friend back there and he moved it by hand, that free'd it up. "Sandlock," I think its called.

[mike37]

Never take a bravo driven boat home without the switch which allows you to start in gear. Over time it will save you much grief and down time...
never herd of that option

[BADBLOWN572]

Per regulations, all boats that have a non springed return throttle must have a neutral safety switch. It is an easy fix to disconnect them, but the boat manufacturers MUST install them on all boats with set throttles. (smart to do anyways) I disconnected mine because of shifting in and out of gear takes its toll, on a blower motor boat especially.
If your boat does get locked into gear, don't force it! You will stretch the cables and or break off one of the ends. If that happens, the boat will not shift properly anyways. Have someone get into the water and spin the prop. That should free up the drive. General rule is that if the prop is not spinning, don't shift it! I would install a momentary bypass switch somewhere to go around the neutral safety switch and allow the boat to start in gear.

[Mor's Lavey]

The easiest way to fix this problem is to turn the prop by hand and it should free up the shifter to go back into neutral.
Quick question. Last summer I let my cousin drive my boat. he was not familiar enough with the off shore controls and turned the boat off with it in gear. Yes it was at idle. It has a 496 bravo1. When i went to put it back into nuetral i had a hell of time getting it to go back to neutral. Felt like i was going to break something.I finally got it in nuetral and the boat fired up and no probs. Is there a sequence or something to do if this were to happen again. (although i will make damn sure any else who drives it knows better)

[moneypit]

them theres alot of options....
I heard it does mess up the linkage.. Bottom line. Dont let anyone mess with the goods.

[spectras only]

[QUOTE=BADBLOWN572].
If your boat does get locked into gear, don't force it! You will stretch the cables and or break off one of the ends. If that happens, the boat will not shift properly anyways. Have someone get into the water and spin the prop. That should free up the drive.
This will work , but make sure you turn the batteries off before sending someone to the meat mincer ;)

[Dr. Eagle]

[QUOTE=BADBLOWN572].
Have someone get into the water and spin the prop. That should free up the drive.
;)
Do you have to yell "CONTACT" when you do that?????

[spectras only]

Saw an old B&W picture of a pilot hanging outside his
plane ,reaching to the right cylinder .The prop was
still :220v:

[jbtrailerjim]

Damn, at least I now know I'm not the only one that has done this. :hammerhea

[Jrocket]

Do you have to yell "CONTACT" when you do that?????
LMAO...No..."Fire in the hole"

[Not So Fast]

I think we have all done this and looked around saying "WHO DID THIS" not to hijack but here is another scenario, guy next to me in the channel comes over and says his boat wont start so being the worlds best shade tree mechanic (yeah right) i volunteer to take a look. After exhausting my worldly base of boating knowledge which took about three minutes i said to my self, self what could be wrong here, to shorten this up does any body know what happens when that little red switch does when its accidently pushed down, you know the one with the lanyard on it, NUFF SAID, problem solved. Always check that first, its pretty easy to miss!! NSF :2purples: :2purples: :2purples:

[paradigm shift]

Well if you ever have a motor die at the wrong (LOL like the is a right time) heading for the rocks in a wind storm and the motor is in gear and you can not crank or start the friggen thing you will bend or break a cable. :cry:
I have since disconnected my nuetral start switch and if we are stopped I always pull the kill switch lanyard just in case someone's kid get key and shifter/throttle happy! It will crank but it will not start. Bravos do not like to shift with out the motor running period. :rollside:

[Havasu Cig]

You can remove the throttle assembly, which is usually just a matter of removing a few screws, and manually press the neutral safety switch and start the boat. Like was mentioned above, shifting into nuetral without the motor running can stretch the cable.

[Trash]

As some have mentioned earlier, the Bravo drive must be rotating from either the engine side or prop side in order to shift. I've found spinning the prop by hand to be the easiest way but you have to take some serious precautions. Pull the kill switch, remove the ignition key and kill the battery before you send the wife over the back to spin the 4 bladed Ginsu device.

[spectras only]

I'm sure this guy wouldn't worry about moving the prop
of a boat to free up the shifter :D
http://www3.telus.net/spectrasonly/plane002.jpg