Lost throttle control, can only engage trans...HELP!

[premierproperties]

Took the Project boat out yesterday for a quick shakedown and when coming off full throttle I think the cable disconnected from the throttle lever(next to driver) I removed all four screws that attach it to the panel and it was loose, but I couldn't pull it out to assess the problem. Needless to say we had to idle all the way back to the launch....At least the cooler was stocked!. BTW the trans shifts fine, just no throttle control.
Thanks
Tim

[haugy]

What kind of boat is it? Do you have side vents right under the side windows? You can pull those and look back at your cable assembly and also look down to see if it dropped out.

You should have two cables attached to your throttle lever housing. One for tranny, one for engine throttle speed.

Are they both still attached?

[duckseatfree]

Do you mean you couldn't pull the throttle out?

With the motor off, put the throttle forward all most all the way. This will straighten out the little arm in the back which is keeping you from being able to pull it all they way out.

[premierproperties]

Boat is an 86 saltare....what I meant is I removed the 4 screws(outer most) that hold the shift lever/throttle lever in.....I could not get the assembly out enough to find the problem. The trans cable is still operational, but throttle cable is not
Duck will give it a shot

[Salty87]

it's a tight fit. you have to pull the transom end of the unit out of the wall and then slide the whole thing back (toward the transom). there's an 'arm' on the front side, you can't just pull the unit out.

there are little brass pieces that connect the cables to the controller, they wear out over time.

[sybrmike]

Some shifters require that you push the throttle lever forward so that the mechanism in the back will rotate out of the way to clear the hole.

[premierproperties]

looks like the cable broke....any ideas where to find a replacement?

[duckseatfree]

Skidim.com? I haven't actually looked to see if they have them but would say it's a safe bet that they do.

[chrisk]

I've been meaning to post something about those brass connectors from the throttle cable to the lever. Last August I had one fail on me and I replaced, now I can already feel it getting loose again like it's going to fail again. Should it be failing this quickly? Do you think there could be something putting a weird strain on the throttle cable somewhere that is rubbing that brass piece too much? I seriously have about an inch of play in my throttle at any speed before it starts to change.. getting progressively worse.