Our ski team is breaking shifting linkages on brand new opti like crazy. Just broke two more last night on two separate boats. Anyone else having these break.
You cannot shift the engines without turning either the engine, or the propeller. When the lower unit is shifted into gear, a collar that slides on the propeller shaft with dogs or "blocks" just slides into slots in the gear. If the slots are not lined up with the dogs, and nothing is turning, you are forcing things to bend, stretch, or break.
The cables are happier the larger, and fewer bends you can put in them. At the engine end, large ugly loops help, so that there is a lot of area to take the stresses of the cables bending as you turn the boat. Make sure the cables do not get kinked as the boat turns, full lock in each direction, and when the engines are trimmed up for storage, towing. We also tie our steering wheel so the engines stay straight when towing the boat. I was able to get Yamaha controllers from Erich (A big thank you!) and that was a huge improvement over the Mercury controller that was on our teams Hydrodyne. The new cables required Mercury adapters at the engine end. Maybe it was just time for new cables, and your boats are rudely telling you that. Oddly enough, I would think the counter rotating engine would be easier on cables, because with the cables coming down the starboard side of the boat, the port engine cables have a larger bend in them.
Thanks for info Daniel. This year we upgraded all engines to Opti 225 with new controls and cables, Triple, Twin and single. On our triple the cable has been replaced twice. All the work is done by Mercury technicians.
Some of the Merc's have a shift shaft that is too long and it rubs on the bottom of the engine block. This causes friction that overloads the linkage. I think the shaft can safely be cut off even with the top of the bellcrank. I have not done this. I have never done it but I think the interference can be seen by removing the lower cowl. It is worth a look. jim
