While docking yesterday I was astonished when the screw attaching the transmission control lever (with absolutely no warning) sheared off so that I suddenly had no control of the transmission. Luckily it happened with the transmission in neutral and we were then able to quickly secure to the dock without damage.
At the helm station, the gear shift lever and the throttle lever are each fastened to threaded horizontal control rods by 1/4 inch screws. The screw attaching the transmission shift lever simply broke off approximately 1/16 inch below the threaded hole in the horizontal rod. At the time we were located on an island several hours from home port in a remote location with no access to repair services or replacement parts. I was fortunate to be able to jury rig a temporary solution by using a short screw in the very short opening in the horizontal rod held in place by two tightly fastened hose clamps. It occurred early in the day so we immediately headed home by engine only without shifting gears until we reached our marina slip.
In order to fix, the remaining portion of the screw that was firmly imbedded in the horizontal rod needed to be drilled out. After that I went in search of replacement parts. As it happens, we have only three sources of SS fasteners in Anacortes, none of which had a 28-thread size Philips head screw. However, West Marine did have hex head screws of proper size. Obviously, I replaced the screw on the throttle side as well.
My hull #38 is a 2000 model with over 3,000 hours on the engine so that shift lever has received much use. It was built in California so it is certainly possible that the fastener that broke was unique to those few boats built before production was moved to Florida. However, I suggest that you guys take heed for it certainly could have occurred at much worse time and place.
At the helm station, the gear shift lever and the throttle lever are each fastened to threaded horizontal control rods by 1/4 inch screws. The screw attaching the transmission shift lever simply broke off approximately 1/16 inch below the threaded hole in the horizontal rod. At the time we were located on an island several hours from home port in a remote location with no access to repair services or replacement parts. I was fortunate to be able to jury rig a temporary solution by using a short screw in the very short opening in the horizontal rod held in place by two tightly fastened hose clamps. It occurred early in the day so we immediately headed home by engine only without shifting gears until we reached our marina slip.
In order to fix, the remaining portion of the screw that was firmly imbedded in the horizontal rod needed to be drilled out. After that I went in search of replacement parts. As it happens, we have only three sources of SS fasteners in Anacortes, none of which had a 28-thread size Philips head screw. However, West Marine did have hex head screws of proper size. Obviously, I replaced the screw on the throttle side as well.
My hull #38 is a 2000 model with over 3,000 hours on the engine so that shift lever has received much use. It was built in California so it is certainly possible that the fastener that broke was unique to those few boats built before production was moved to Florida. However, I suggest that you guys take heed for it certainly could have occurred at much worse time and place.