2007 GTX 155 reverse gate coming down by its self under power

[Dockmaster]

Hello!

I have a 2007 GTX 155 and I am having an issue. As I apply power the reverse gate is beginning to come down by itself. The more power I apply the farther it goes down. This began out of the blue yesterday while accelerating from a stop. I would guess that the grate goes down about 1/3 the way as you apply power. If I try to manually push the "gear selector" back down to forward, I cannot as there is a ton of pressure. As I understand it that system is all mechanical so there must be a broken lock or something somewhere. If I start the ski out of the water the problem does not occur. I have the service manual but have been unable to find a problem and the local dealer cannot even look at it till the 12th! Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Hi'er-Res pics:

http://twitpic.com/a49gmm
http://twitpic.com/a49heq
http://twitpic.com/a49hnf

 

[red2blue]

Is the spring still attached?

 

[Dockmaster]

Thanks for the reply red2blue.

Yes the spring is still attached. I added some pictures to the original post that show that.

 

[Michael211_2000]

Kyle everything looks to be correct in your pics... I don't see anything amiss. How easy is it to pull the reverse bucket down by hand (err, pulling the bucket down directly by hand, not by using the reverse lever)? There is no "lock" (by design) you should be able to pull it down by hand but it should not be very easy you're working against that spring in fact.

Can you snap a high res pic of the jetpump showing the entire pump, taken directly aft of the steering nozzle, so we can see the entire pump area?

Typically when you're running on-plane it should be very difficult to pull the reverse bucket down due to the water pressure coming out of the pump nozzle, not the complete opposite! Weird!

- Michael

 

[Dockmaster]

Thanks for the response Michael. I will get that pic after work. I can pull it down, and it does start hard but gets easy once you get it going. If I force the ski up onto plane with this condition it is very hard to move the reverse bucket in either direction, in fact I cannot force it back down to the forward position.

 

[Wenier]

If you remove the glovebox below the steering have a look at the backside of the lever mechanism that is hidden up the front end. As stated the backend looks alright and as long as it took some force to get it to reverse by hand that is normal.