2001 1800XR Control Box Bolt Size/Issue

[Barton261]

Hello -

I have a 2001 Maxum 1800XR with a Mercury 125HP 2 Stroke Outboard. The boat was fine when I put it up for the winter two seasons ago. We didnt use it at all last season and left it in our garage winterized. We pulled it out this spring and got it ready for the water only to find out that the boat will not shift into forward or reverse. It's as if I'm only increasing the throttle. The prop is new. Upon further investigation I noticed that when I put the boat into gear on the control box only the throttle cable moves on the engine. The shift cable does not move. I disconnected the throttle and shift cable and they appear to move okay by hand. The control box appears to be a quicksilver 3000 with a maxum cover instead of quicksilver cover. The control box also appears to be functioning properly when not connected to the cables. I re-greased everything while I had it apart. Without the cables attached it seems to work smoothly.

I did notice that the bolts holding the control box on were not the correct bolts they were 1/4x20 shaft that someone locktited into place. You can literally just pull them in and out of the control box. I went to lowes to purchase bigger bolts and went with m7x20 and it appears to be not the correct size either. m8x20 was too big as was 5/16x20.

Does this control box use some weird bolt size? Where can I get the correct bolts?

I'm wondering if it is possible for the throttle advance button on the control box to be stuck in the pressed position which could cause my issue? Otherwise I'm debating just replacing the cables.

If the bolts are unable to be procured for the control box how do I determine which aftermarket control box would fit my boat? Also where do I get the cables part number to get the correct ones? I tried googling the number on the cable and came up with nothing. The part number I have is: D63732-000-168.0

Sorry this is long. Any help is greatly appreciated!!