Perfect Pass Help

[lcgordon]

I cant figure out why my perfect pass is messing up. Most of the time it works great but sometimes it wont go back down to idle. It will stay at 1500-2000 rpm. Then if you lift the engine cover and press the throttle arm it will return to idle.

 

I put up a picture. It is a 94 mercruiser with TBI.

 

Last night I messed with it 4 times and could not get it to work so I put the hand drive attachment back on. It works fine.

 

I wonder if its my return spring but idk I look at the throttle cable set up with my perfect pass and it does not look right.

[jhughes]

Might be time to clean that spark arrestor either way!

[lcgordon]

@jhughes I know that I keep forgetting because every time I go out to work on the boat there is much more urgent problems. Ill clean it this week tho it has been on the list.

[BrennanKMN]

You need an additional throttle return spring.

Had the same issue with the idle and not returning on my boat. Adding the spring that was provided with perfect pass in addition to locating my servo in a better place fixed the issue for me.

[oldjeep]

Something looks broke there, maybe straigten out the cable mount? The cable has to be wearing a groove in the adjustment tube at that angle.

[lcgordon]

@BrennanKMN is it the spring that looks like this picture?

 

@oldjeep I know but I have tried straightening out the bracket and tightening it so it stays in place and it completely messes it up bad. Way worse.

 

[bigskieridaho]

Add a heavier return spring. Do not put another on, it will be to much force on your servo motor. Also, back off your servo tension and then reset it per the manual. Check your throttle cable and make sure it is t worn, this will cause sticking as well.

[oldjeep]

Well take that cable loose and see if there is a groove forming in the barrel, at least then you could rotate the barrel 180 degrees and wear out the other side. Cable looks too short for the application or you have some slack elsewhere.

[BraceMaker]

You really need to look at the routing of the PP cable. It should go almost perfectly straight into the arm and have only gentle bends.

 

[lcgordon]

I have tried multiple mounting positions and I have like 5 cables. I have one long one which is the one that is in use and like 4 short ones that I cant use because they wont let the boat go full throttle.

 

The cable lines up straight if you move the bracket straight but then as soon as you give it throttle it does not return back. I guess I need to get more pictures and maybe a video of it happening. Also maybe talk to perfect pass.

 

Like I said though it works alot of the time. It seems to work more when I put the long brass hex nut up against the PP cable when in neutral.

 

I really think its the return spring on the TBI itself. The cable comes back and is bottomed out when put back in neutral but you have to actually push the throttle arm intake itself to get it to move just that little bit.

[DanE]

@lcgordon When you say "bracket" are you referring to the L-shaped brass adapter? It looks completely stuck in the picture, it actually needs to swivel freely on the mounting screw attached to the throttle lever.

[lcgordon]

@DanE Yes the brass L bracket. It does swivel freely but since the throttle cable pushes it down like that. Idk what is up. I just talked to perfect pass tech support and he was kind of stumped as well. I would love to see a 93-95 ish malibu with perfect pass to understand how theirs is set up. I know they have the same motor as my boat.

[Orlando76]

Like DanE said, the L bracket swivels. The bolt has a shank and a washer or something that prevents it from going tight. Also keep in mind the entire PP cable needs full uninterrupted movement, the inside jacket and the outside jacket unlike the typical throttle cable. Call PP and ask for Gary, great help and always has the time for you.

[BrennanKMN]

The return spring needs to be under more pressure. Mine is always stretched. Never looks 'collapsed' liked that. That spring is doing no good at idle as it is providing no closing force on the throttle plate. You don't need a stronger one, you just need yours to do something at low throttle vs. high throttle.

I will get a picture of mine this afternoon.

 

The cable being kinda messed up is 'normal'. Just rotate that bracket to line up more square and fix the return spring and you'll be set.

[lcgordon]

Thanks guys for all the quick help. I screwed with this when I first got it set up then it worked good all summer and now its back to not working again. I got it fixed the other day for a bit and now I cant anymore.

 

@BrennanKMN Thanks and I would love a pic. That second pic is not of my boat its just google image. Just was trying to show the spring to see if thats what it looks like. I think I have one of those springs but there is not one on my boat.

[BraceMaker]

Your return spring may be that "clock spring" behind the arm on the throttle body -

 

 

[supergadget]

Looks like the adjuster bolt is broken at the threads. Adjusted for the throttle cable.

Causing slack (feels /acts like a worn spring )

 

[lcgordon]

@BraceMaker yeah I know I have that return spring but was wondering if I needed the external one that perfect pass sends? Little confused here.

 

@supergadget im a little confused about what your saying.

 

When I get home I will get lots of pics and some video to try to figure out whats up.

[TallSkinnyGuy]

My PP cable comes into the throttle lever from a higher angle than yours and therefore appears to be more in line with the boat's throttle cable. Mine is a '97 MC but looks similar to yours.

 

[lcgordon]

Thanks for the pics I will get a better look at it tonight

[supergadget]

1) @lcgordon - sorry- I don't have my PP now so I'm going from memory. The brass thread adjuster looks broken free from the barrel. Isn't it supposed to be one PC? I could be wrong.

2)I do remember when I had mine I replaced the "L" swivel, and also the knuckle where the cable attaches. These things wear and make things sloppy or slack feeling cable . Sluggish return etc.

I just phoned PP guys and they sent new connections and this definitely improved my response. You can't tell by just looking at it. Compare used parts to new.

 

3)DanE is also right . The L swivel is very important . You are dealing with pretty tight tolorances on the carb slides, caused by throttle binding

4) perhaps instead of changing the cable length, change where the servo is mounted to improve the cable path to the throttle.like @TallSkinnyGuy boat!.

[lcgordon]

Thanks for the info. Im going to try to get a bunch of pics up tonight and video of different things. Then im hoping I can bring it to the lake tomorrow after work to video in real time as it is happening. My luck it will work perfectly haha

[lcgordon]

@Mark_Matis Thanks for the info that pic posted at 1045 your time is not my boat. The only pic that is of my boat is the very first pic in the very first post that I made. The other pics are from google. I just posted that to see if that is the kind of spring I would need to add.

[lcgordon]

Thanks for that info Thats what i was kind of hoping for. I know I have very limited options for the servo. I have tried a couple. I may need a new throttle cable that may help me out.

[GregHind]

@lcgordon when you return your hand throttle to neutral it should force your engine throttle to neutral. Force as in there should be no mechanical or physical way of getting the hand throttle to idle or neutral without the engine being forced to idle at exactly the same time. The return Spring should have NOTHING to do with that.

 

I may have misunderstood what you said??

 

The return Spring closes the throttle when perfect pass decides to decelerate. However when YOU pull back on the hand throttle the return Spring is not involved.

 

Your install looks dodgy to me, too tight and binding but the photo doesn't show enough to for me offer any suggestions. Better photos please

[foxriverat]

If you took the cable off the brass L bracket. Would you be able to spin the bracket 180 degrees around? From the picture it looks like it would hit. Also that pp cable needs to be more inline with that throttle cable some how some way. Thats most likely your problem.

[lcgordon]

Ok so I went and messed with it for like 45min last night. With everything disconnected I worked the throttle and that return spring is tight. It slams that thing shut with alot of force.

 

I put my perfect pass back on the exact same way as I had it before. I lined everything up and worked the throttle. It jams the pp throttle cable down. When then happens it could not go back to idle. So I worked the throttle arm manually (im calling the throttle arm the part that the brass L bracket is connected to idk what it is actually called) and it was stuck. Then when I lifted the pp cable so it was in better line it went back to idle. So the way the pp cable is is causing it to bind up.

 

So I thought I would move the servo motor and put a newer cable I have on it. It does not have the correct mounting bracket so it does not have the right hex nuts but it seems to work to atleast try it. This cable seems to be brand new. So I set it up and got it adjusted. This cable goes the opposite way and bends up when you work the throttle but when doing so it seems to bind less and go back to idle.

 

So I think to fix this right I need a new throttle cable. The ones I have been using are too long. I have other shorter ones but they are way too short. I need to buy on that is in the middle. This is also all while the boat is not running.

 

Im going to try this set up today just to see. But I think this is my problem.

 

Thanks for all the help

 

Im not sure of the order of the pics but the cable end is the first origional cable you can see its all crooked and wore out.

 

Next is pics of the original set up with the servo motor on the far left side of the motor when looking from the back of the boat. This is when the pp cable drops down.

 

The last ones are the new set up and new servo location. I think this will be better with the right length cable.

 

 

[lcgordon]

@Mark_Matis Hey thanks for taking the time to draw that up. I have thought about that but never actually tried it. I kept thinking it would catch on the motor box. Im not sure tho. Looking at the pic it may work. Ill try to reroute tonight. Thanks again.

[Monkstr6100]

did you contact perfect pass? I know I had issues with mine and eventually wore/broke the cable. Turned out that my servo was mounted WAY wrong AND had a cable about 2' to short for the merc black scorpion engine. Called perfect pass, AMAZING customer service, and they set me up with the CORRECT mounting bracket, cable with slight bend at end, and a printed off sheet showing my EXACT motor setup and how to mount and run the cable. ZERO issues since. Life is good.

[Monkstr6100]

it was set up wrong by the previous owner so I never questioned that it was completely wrong!

[lcgordon]

I called him but I could not quite give enough info for them to narrow it down.

 

I got the servo motor moved to a better location that @Mark_Matis suggested. It seems to work. I did not get a chance to take it to the lake. I still think I need to get the correct cable length. Mine is still a tad long. I think it will work for now tho thanks guys.

[oldjeep]

x2 on Marks suggestion. That is where the servo is on my inlaws 04 Black Scorpion LXI

[Chef23]

I have my servo mounted where @Mark_Matis drew it in and I installed it myself. It has been working well for 8-9 years.