stiff throttle on Chaparral (rotax)

[BobJohnson]

So, first time out for the year today and my shifter is hard to get into reverse from neutral. Actually gets real stiff in and out of neutral, but I really need to pull it to get into reverse.

Question... my first thought is the throttle handle needs lubrication somewhere. Thats where it "feels" stiff. But could the reverse buckets and linkage need lubrication? If so, anyone know where / what parts to lubricate and what to lubricate with?

The boat is a 2015 model, so pre IST. Just basic.

any thoughts/suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Speedling]

First I would do a visual check of the pump in the gate in the back make sure there's no debris or sticks wedged into anything

 

[Speedling]

If you're free of debris back there and there's nothing wedged anywhere then it could simply be that there's the tensioners on a handles are bolted down too tight
Sorry I'm using voice to text on my phone at the moment but there should be a couple of screws that you can adjust either tighter or looser on those handles so I would try and adjust those forward and back and see if you can do anything with that as well

 

[BobJohnson]

thanks - will pull the boat out and check the business end for any debris or gunk. I'll pull the face plate off the throttle so I can get access behind it and see what I can see back there too. frustrating, because this is one of those things that just happened over the winter. was perfect last fall....

 

[Pat Dusablon]

It 's most probably NOT the shifter itself. To find out if it is the shifter, disconnect the reverse cable from the reverse bucket, (see picture) and try the shifter again. If the shifter is now easy to operate, your problem is at the pivot of the bucket.
You need to remove the two bolts (one on each side), remove the bucket, the metal bushing and the plastic bushing (see picture). Now clean the corrosion that accumulated in the holes of the bucket, grease the holes, and put everything back together. Your good to go.

 

[BobJohnson]

@Pat Dusablon thank you. That was exactly the issue. I didn’t clean the buckets as well as I should have at end of last season. ( I wer slip). Cleaning and greasing fixed her right up!