Throttle handle removal/adjustment

[rxc]

The handle on my main engine throttle has looked like the first photo below since the day that I bought the boat, but until now I haven't gotten around to dealing with it. It is in the neutral position, and is not vertical, as one might normally expect.  Going down the ICW in Florida, dealing with bridge openings, I finally got tired of being unsure about its position from feel and decided to fix it.

I thought that I could open the white housing and find some sort of adjustment screw that could be used to align it, but after a long and relatively painfull effort (eventually involving a drill, alas), I found that the handle is attached to a mechanism inside the housing that has no adjustments for the handle, and it appears that everything inside  is perfectly, properly aligned. I can find no manufacturers markings anywhere on the throttle, the handle, the housing, or any of the internals. I can tell you that the housing is held together by 6 M5x35mm SS capscrews, which have a tendency to corrode the aluminum housing and seize, and which are not easily available in the US (except in quantities of 1000<g>).

I then looked at the handle a bit closer and found the setscrew in the bottom (Photo 2). After I removed it, I tried to remove the handle, but it appears to be firmly attached to its shaft, and does not want to move in any way. I am afraid to use more force, to avoid doing expensive/unrepairable damage.

My question for the Jeanneau group is whether anyone has ever had cause to remove this throttle handle, and if so, what did you do to get it off?

All suggestions are welcome.

[puravida35]

The throttle handle on my 2005 SO35 is oriented the same as yours while in neutral. It was that way upon initial delivery. It originally had a red arrow labelled "neutral" indicating the correct position but the adhesive gave way several years ago and I never replaced it. Short story is that your handle appears to be in the proper position (or at least the factory position) for neutral.

I have never attempted to remove the handle or open the case although I have considered doing so in order to lubricste anything that might need it.  Would be interested in any info regarding cracking into the case.

[MalcolmP]

It is probably just slightly seized - it is fitted onto a splined shaft, so once you have fully loosened (or removed) the grub screw you may have to carefully prize the handle off - may use a plastic door wedge or similar - there may be some salt corrosion, also the red plastic button may be pinching it a bit - I would spray with penetrating fluid and leave a while before you try. On my previous boat SO34.2 which had probably the same fitting I also took the whole white casting apart - there was quite a lot of rust as the Teleflex parts are mild steel I guess originally cadmium plated and salt water had worked its worst - however cleaned up OK then I liberally greased all the surfaces before reasembly.  

You can then refit the lever at any angle depending on which splines you line up.

[MalcolmP]

Jul 10, 2014 8:56:45 GMT MalcolmP said:

It is probably just slightly seized - it is fitted onto a splined shaft, so once you have fully loosened (or removed) the grub screw you may have to carefully prize the handle off - may use a plastic door wedge or similar - there may be some salt corrosion, also the red plastic button may be pinching it a bit - I would spray with penetrating fluid and leave a while before you try. On my previous boat SO34.2 which had probably the same fitting I also took the whole white casting apart - there was quite a lot of rust as the Teleflex parts are mild steel I guess originally cadmium plated and salt water had worked its worst - however cleaned up OK then I liberally greased all the surfaces before reasembly.  

You can then refit the lever at any angle depending on which splines you line up.

Oh I should have said that it is a Goiot unit with a Teleflex lever mechanism (or perhaps a copy - there are lots about - the Teleflex ones usually have Tx on them somewhere, but Goiot might have used something diffrent - hence the mild steel internal plates

[rxc]

Puravida,

Thanks for the information. I can't remember seeing the handle position on any other Jeanneaus, but do remember chartering a Beneteau about 15 years ago in Guadeloupe and I distinctly remember that it was vertical. It was the first time I had ever used a throttle like this, which is why I remember it.

The housing is aluminum/ium, and the screws are SS/inox, so I suspected corrosion, but it did not occur in the threads. The screws need a 4mm hex-wrench, but it is very difficult to get to most of them with a regular key. A 4mm hex key on a socket with a long extension from the other side is the best access. 5 screws came out easily, and they even appeared to be coated with Tef-Gel, or equivalent, but the sixth screw (top, aft position) only moved slightly, and then stopped. I applied penetrating fluid to the crack in the housing, thinking that it was the threads (on the handle side of the housing, only), tapped quite a bit from every direction, applied more penetrant, waited patiently, repeat, etc, but nothing happened. Finally decided to drill out the head, which only required a long drill extension and care to avoid a profusion of metal chips embedding in the teak.

The head drilled right off, but the two halves of the housing still refused to separate. I gradually opened the bottom and looked inside to see it there was something I was missing. There is one bracket attached to the inboard half of the housing and I got a wrench on the nuts to loosten it up, but that didn't really help. It was only with quite a bit of wedging force that I got the housing separated, and I found corrosion in the inboard half of the housing, where the screw passed through, but was not threaded. Evidently this hole was not powder-coated, and the SS corroded the Al to prevent it from turning. The threaded portion in the outboard half came loose very easily, and was not corroded at all.

I regret that I did not take photos of the interior, but will try the next time I have it apart and post them. The parts inside were well lubed, and nothing else appeared to be corroded. There are rubber bushings at the top and bottom that have worn quite a bit and should be replaced, if I could find a supplier, but all else appears good. I will apply tef-gel to the entire length of the screws, not just the threads, when they finally go back.

Malcolm,

I will follow your advice next time I am at the boat, and will soak it with penetrant and bring along some wedges to see if they can help. I don't understand whether the red button will come off with the handle or whether it will stay with the internal mechanism - I suspect it will stay.

More to come in a few days, after I get the outboard serviced...

[sailingsouth]

I have a 2005 43DS and mine looks the same as yours.  It would be nice if it was vertical as my wife does most of the driving while I'm doing the jump off the boat at the dock drill:-).  We've only had the boat a few weeks and she's missed nuetral a couple of times.  I think she's got the hang of it now though, moving it vertical will probably mess her up....... haha.

[Don Reaves]

My SO35 has the indicator decal on the side of the shifter to indicate the correct angle for neutral. It's not exact, though.

I find neutral by gently pressing the center button while adjusting the throttle angle. When you can push the button in, you've found it. It works every time for me, but I live in a freshwater environment where corrosion is not much of a problem. I don't know if this technique might fail otherwise.

Don

[so40gtb]

I had the throttle handle off several times on our SO34.2, with no difficulty, but she is a freshwater boat. I suspect that corrosion may have something to do with your difficulty, especially if you're in salt water. During our first year of ownership, I had a custom cupholder constructed by Snap-It that prevented the throttle arm from going forward. So the throttle arm was reoriented so that horizontal was neutral, up became forward, and down became reverse.

[rxc]

Success!

Just as Malcolm had suggested, just a little bit of wedging around the sides of the handle popped it off, and it is indeed splined (see Photo 1). Then after a bit of cleanup, and it is now back on, neutral is vertical, and all is right with the world.

I also took the opportunity to finish installing the screws on the housing. I could not find any M5x35 caphead screws, but did find an M5x30, and it worked fine with plenty of thread engagement. It is the top one on the fwd side. I took the housing apart so that you could all see what it looks like inside.

Thanks very much to all for the information and suggestions.

[sailingsouth]

That is an awesome report!  I'm going to do our next weekend:-)

[MalcolmP]

Jul 11, 2014 21:29:30 GMT rxc said:

Success!

Just as Malcolm had suggested, just a little bit of wedging around the sides of the handle popped it off, and it is indeed splined (see Photo 1). Then after a bit of cleanup, and it is now back on, neutral is vertical, and all is right with the world.

I also took the opportunity to finish installing the screws on the housing. I could not find any M5x35 caphead screws, but did find an M5x30, and it worked fine with plenty of thread engagement. It is the top one on the fwd side. I took the housing apart so that you could all see what it looks like inside.

Thanks very much to all for the information and suggestions.

Glad you got it all sorted without too much hassle. The inside looks in much better shape than on the 34.2 one I opened - I suspect it may not have been OEM Teleflex controls as there was quite a lot of rust - but maybe the seals leaked more as well

[manaia]

This had bothered me for a while and have made the adjustment so the handle is at 12 o'clock in neutral.
It's much more intuitive and the only disadvantage I can see so far is that you have to lean further forward over the wheel when you are advancing the throttle, perhaps that is why it is positioned angled slightly back ?
Anyway, I am happy with the result, thanks for the great photos.

[capnbrian]

Any possibility of having the photos from this thread re-posted?

had found these earlier and intended to compare them to what is inside my engine control pod, and now they seem to be unavailable.

Thanks for any help!

[rxc]

Thanks for the note. I just discovered that tinypic is no longer in operation, so I have to find the photos and repost them from a different hosting site. Finding them will be the biggest challenge, but with the date of the post it should be possible. Be back in about a day.

[rxc]

Photo links updated. I think I got all of the photos, in roughly the right order.

[capnbrian]

Perfect!

Thank you very much!