4.3L Mercruiser stalls when you put it in gear

[tool]

Last fall I was gifted an older boat from my parents that hadn't been used for a number of years, I don't know how many but some where 6-10 years I would guess.

Its a Regal bowrider with a 4.3L Mercruiser I/O
Although it was stored indoors it has has some corrosion issues with wiring and some of the mechanisms.

I got it running ok, but sitting in the shop with it running on the ears, it immediately stalls when you put it into gear, forward or reverse. It's idling at 850-900 RPM

On further inspection I find that the little "interrupter" microswitch which is meant to momentarily stall the engine so it goes in and out of gear is staying stuck in the closed position and therefore killing the motor.

I've sprayed the mechanism and cables with Wd40 hoping they would free up but so far no luck.

Has anyone ever dealt whith this before?

Also, the steering very stiff, as in could barely turn the wheel at first with the engine running.

Perhaps getting slightly better with some use.

[HyperMOA]

I was gonna say seized drive or the switches. If you pull out the switches and go to an electronics shop you will find what you need for cheap.

[glen moa]

Once the cables get stiff they recommend you replace them. They could seize or break when you need them most.

[big zeke]

I'm guessing it's an Alpha 1 Gen 2 outdrive, this was quite common on the 4.3s (I have one for example). If it's a carb job (2 bbl or 4) it should have a cutout switch on the throttle bracket that temporarily kills the engine when shifting into gear, it is more pronounced when shifting into reverse on mine for some reason. IIRC, the switch kills ignition for a second to avoid gear clash on shifts (primitive but it works). Check to make sure this switch actuates, it sounds like yours might be getting stuck during the shift and killing the engine.

The switch should be located on the shift side of the carb (opposite the throttle actuator), on my 4 bbl it's on the left side of the carb as you face the engine. Switch is fairly cheap, should be able to find it online. If you're EFI, it should still have the switch somewhere near the shift plate.

Post how this works out for you.

Oh ya, replace the steering cable if it's sticky...they never get better no matter how you lube them, same goes for throttle cables.

[tool]

It's an Alpha one gen 1

Talked to the dealer today, they said figure a minimum of 4 weeks and a minimum of $1,000

Sigh....

But time spent tearing this thing apart could be much better spent doing a lot of other jobs that I have to do.

If I could free it up without tearing it apart would be so much better, I don't think I want to commit the time to tearing the outdrive to pieces doing the bellows, gimball bearing etc which should be done when you have the outdrive off.