Show a (shift) leg

[Ben Romano]

I have benefited immensely in my first year of sailboat ownership from the generosity, wisdom and wit displayed on this forum. Thank you all. I'm looking for help with a new problem that threatens to keep us at the dock for some time, I’m afraid.

A couple of weeks ago, we inelegantly left the marina for an evening sail. There was an ominous clunk as I shifted, too aggressively and under duress, from forward to reverse. Somehow we made it out without hitting anyone, but soon discovered that we no longer could change gears from the pedestal. Returning was stressful -- my kids huddled in the V while the engine ran with the cover off so we could access the gear shift lever directly -- but ultimately successful thanks to kind sailors on the dock who grabbed our lines and helped us to a stop without crashing.

A marine mechanic came out last week to help me diagnose what went clunk. It appears we have broken the circular piece at the bottom of the shift leg inside the pedestal, which attaches the shift cable to the control lever with a set screw on the circular piece. (The rest of the gear shift control appears to be fine; the cable was replaced last fall.)

The broken part in question seems hard to find. It appears in the old Merriman/Yacht Specialties catalog that was posted last year and is so helpful for approaching this problem. Thank you to Christian for finding and posting it, and for the threads on disassembling and rebuildingthe YS pedestal – among many other blog and forum posts that have been entertaining and informative. See the screen grab below from the catalog with the part and suspected breakage identified with the red arrow (I say suspected because I've not yet started pulling the pedestal apart far enough to confirm, but the mechanic spotted it from above after we took off the piece covering the control head). The part can also be seen well in Christian’s pedestal disassembly thread, images 4-7. Here is his image 4, which shows it best:

My questions:

• Does anyone know of a source for this part? (To complicate matters further, the part does not appear to be interchangeable between YS pedestal models. Our pedestal most resembles a Y323-210/11, based on the catalog, but I have not seen a specific part number stamped anywhere on the pedestal itself so I am not sure. Assuming that is correct, the part number would be Y323-0191.)
• Does it seem like something that could be fabricated?
• Are there alternatives you would suggest we pursue to regain gear shift control from the helm?

Thanks!

 

[Dave G.]

That's a mysterious failure as that bracket just holds the cable in a specific position. It would take quite a shock to break that. Did it break where the set screw goes through ? A picture of the broken section would help analyze it much better but my initial thought would be to get it off and take it to a welding shop and have them weld or braze it back together. Obviously a new replacement would be optimal but I wouldn't know where you can find that part. Also need to figure out why that failed as there shouldn't be that much force there in the first place. Maybe someone tightened that set screw too tight and cracked the casting ?

 

[Kenneth K]

For parts, check:

Security Measure

www.ebay.com

He has various YS parts from time to time.

 

[markvone]

The broken part functions as the end clamp for the exterior case of the shift cable. The exterior case of the cable needs to be fixed at both ends so the inner cable can slide through inside (like through a tunnel). If the exterior case isn't clamped at each end, the entire cable can move vs just the inner. While I would prefer to replace the part with an exact match, the price of that exact match would be a consideration as well as the time needed to find it.
Some thoughts:
Can you clamp the exterior cable case to the remaining piece of the vertical part #11? To something else?
You can continue to search for the actual replacement while it's clamped.
I'd consider making a new part #11 from G10. Hardwood might work too.
You can most certainly have that part made at a machine shop from aluminum.

Mark

 

[Loren Beach]

Mark has an idea I had not considered. If you have the old part, it can be scanned in 3D, and a new aluminum part can be milled out by machine. In theory it could be 3D printed, but I am unsure if there is a material strong enough to last.

 

[Chris Mc.]

I’d definitely consider replacing, or at least; inspecting the cable for free uninhabited movement while making this repair.

 

[Afrakes]

Remove the broken part, see what the actual failure is. If it is a fracture in the casting a talented welder should be able to fix it. In addition, those parts can also be fabricated out of stainless steel again by a talented welder.

 

[Ben Romano]

That's a mysterious failure as that bracket just holds the cable in a specific position. It would take quite a shock to break that. Did it break where the set screw goes through ? A picture of the broken section would help analyze it much better but my initial thought would be to get it off and take it to a welding shop and have them weld or braze it back together. Obviously a new replacement would be optimal but I wouldn't know where you can find that part. Also need to figure out why that failed as there shouldn't be that much force there in the first place. Maybe someone tightened that set screw too tight and cracked the casting ?

Prior to having the shift cable replaced last fall, it was really stiff and the PO even had an extra-long shift handle he would slip over the stock one to provide leverage to shift it into gear. That never felt great to me, and we were pleased that when the new cable was in, it shifted much more easily. But perhaps years of that stiff condition weakened the bracket (and who knows what else).

When we get it apart, I will post a picture here.

Thanks for the ideas, all.