Merrimen pedestal throttle link

[Scott]

Returned from a very pleasant, relaxing sail on the upper Chesapeake a few hours ago. Got into the slip, secured all lines, and relaxed. Went below and let the engine idle to cool down about five minutes. My crewmate trottled up to shut off the engine, and said "hey, look at this." I looked up to the cockpit and he throttled up again, and no increase in RPMs.

Opened the engine compartment to check the linkage. It was fine at the engine. Pushed the engine throttle lever and was only able get a few more RPMs before the lever felt as if it hit a "stop."

Figured that the linkage had come loose at the pedestal lever and the "fugitive end" of the cable was just hitting something.

I just Googled Merrimen pedestals and was surprised at the number of horror stories regarding Merrimen pedestals.

Other than R/R the compass several years ago and looking down the pedestal, and doing some lubing, I have never thought much about it.

Didn't have time to work on it then but will do so next weekend. Will take down long handled needle nose pliars, surgical clamp, and some other tools to attempt a dianosis/fix.

Question - has anyone experienced this precise problem and what is the worst/best case scenario?

On the bright side, Murphey's attention must have elsewhere at that moment, cause we got into the slip just fine.

 

[Steve Dion]

I don't know about all of these "horror stories" about Yachting Specialities/Merriman. They have been out of business since around 1991 or so.

There are a couple of things. There is a clip inside the pedestal that holds the cable housing in place. The clip is held in place by a screw that should be on the forward side of the pedestal. If that screw is loose or the clip broke this could cause a problem. The other problem could obviously a broken cable.

 

[Tim R.]

Unfortunately it is likely a broken bracket if you have the plastic gear/throttle housing. No good way to fix permanently other than have a new one machined out of Aluminum.

As for horror stories, this is really the only weak link I know of in a very robust system.

My boat has the aluminum housing so no worries.

 

[Benny]

20+ year old components do fail. The horror is that the company went out of business and replacement parts are very hard to come by. Most replacements have to be machined. The alternative is to spend mucko bucks and replace the pedestal but there is no sense in beating a dead horse. Just remeber than in case of emergency the engine can be throtled up or down manually an to dock a fast idle can be used just working the gear lever.