Honda BF130 Gear shift Issue

ttiom · 20 February 2013, 19:46

Hi all

After any help and advice!!

I have a 99 Honda BF 130 xl shaft. It has been getting quite stiff to shift into both forward and reverse gear and find neutral. I thought cables or remote but disconnected them and they are free and smooth.

Ran it up in a bucket and put into gear by hand. Couldnt do it with my fingers and had to use loads of force with a screw driver. With a good hard push it went into gear smoothly with no bad noises. Just as a final check, I am going to remove the gearbox and try the gear selector.

My feeling is gearbox is fine but selector shaft (if thats the right name) is not. Had a chat with local engineer who reckons £1500 minimum as power head needs to come off and its a big job to replace this gear shaft.

Anyone have any experience of this and top tips. I am pretty good with the spanners but on cars, 4x4's and inboard diesels, not outboards!!! All comments greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.

Dirk Diggler · 20 February 2013, 19:52

£1500.00, that about what the motors worth I'd have thought! It's a simple job to drop the box, and to see if the problem is shaft or not. It's pretty easy to remove the powerhead as well, no special tools required.

In the old Honda 130 class racing days, we used to remove and replace a powerhead in a morning!

Out of interest, who's the engineer that's quoted that ridiculous price. Around here that equates to around 25 hours at a main dealers. You can build a complete motor in less time than that!

Chris · 20 February 2013, 20:48

Don't be fooled by cables that feel OK when disconnected....it's only when they are under load that they will become stiff if they need replacing (unless they are totally shot).

ttiom · 20 February 2013, 22:18

Thanks for the replies. Rather not name the firm if that's ok. With regard to the stiffness, how difficult should it be to put in gear by hand with the cable disconnected. I assume I shouldn't need a screw driver and brute force!!!!!

Chris · 21 February 2013, 08:31

It depends if you get someone to slowly turn the prop and then try. If the prop is stationary you should never try to force it into gear.

I would start with new cables and ensure the control box is cleaned and lubricated and then worry about the gearbox if the problem is still there...

sjc avon · 06 June 2013, 22:12

Hi, did you ever solve this problem, I'm having exactly same problem with mine! One person said cables another said the arm!!

markdj · 13 June 2019, 18:16

Hi

Did you guys ever fix this issue? Having the same problem with a BF130 too. The cable and arm are all free, it's the shaft, but wondering what to do next.

Thanks

Mark
(Yes, really old thread :-)

Last Tango · 13 June 2019, 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by markdj

Hi

Did you guys ever fix this issue? Having the same problem with a BF130 too. The cable and arm are all free, it's the shaft, but wondering what to do next.

Thanks

Mark
(Yes, really old thread :-)

Yeh.

Had the same problem with my 2001 BF130. Cables seemed fine when I disconnected them.....but they weren't !

I fitted "Telflex Extreme" cables and put an open vertical loop in front of the engine to take the tight bends out and it was perfect. Difference of night and day