Photo of Shift Cable

[NOLA_sailing]

My gear shift on my Catalina 30 is often difficult to put in gear, esp if shifting from one extreme to the other (forward to reverse or vice-versa). My Dad and I have been troubleshooting and when we disconnected the control cable from the transmission, it shifts just fine at the helm. While it was disconnected, we also manually shifted the gearbox lever with no noticeable resistance. Thinking it resolved itself, we reconnected, and sure enough, the issues returned.

The attached photo is of the control cable attached to the gear lever. As you can see, aft(left) of the shift lever coupling, the cable is attached to a bracket. Is it possible that the angle of the cable from the bracket to the lever is causing resistance at the gearbox lever (but would be free moving when we disconnected from lever)? We were thinking of putting a spacer of some kind on the bracket to decrease the angle but wanted to get some feedback from here first. As always, any help is appreciated!

[model 10]

Put some washers under the cable clamp, leave the bracket alone.

[NOLA_sailing]

Originally Posted by Guy

Put some washers under the cable clamp, leave the bracket alone.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Hoping this is the culprit! Thanks.


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