Mirage jet boat Reverse Bucket issue

[Jdurbo]

Hi everyone. Hopefully someone can help... I have a 1996 Sugarsand Mirage jet boat. Problem: When I accelerate (forward position); the boat only goes @ 1mph but idle is screaming. Boat stays in "Neutral" position fine and Reverse is fine. Bucket has a lot of "play" and can be jiggled up & down with my hands when shifter is in "neutral" position. Anyone have a picture of their bucket and cable for reference? The end of my cable (where it meets the round bolt connected to bucket) looks bent downward, but not sure what it should look like. Also the spring next to bucket is pretty rusted and isn't very taught. Again, not sure what normal is. Last week while in water, the boat continued with same problem and i was able to reach down and physically pull bucket up to allow boat to go faster. I am new to boating and am having a hard time finding information on my boat. PS...Yes, the impeller has been thoroughly inspected with no issues. Thank you in Advance for any help with this issue.

 

[Scottintexas]

glad to have you on board,
you posted this in the "members tips and ideas" section

you may not get as many views here as you would in the "general discussion" or the "sugar sands" sections

I would guess either your cable is bad and only going in one direction or you have a problem at your bucket,

If you disconnect the cable from the bucket does the cable go easily in/out ?
can you move the bucket easily up/down while disconnected ?

maybe post a picture and we can more easily identify a problem,

maybe @Bilmon can help,