Hard Shift Into Reverse

I do not intend to start another hard shift or transmission clunking thread but I'd appreciate any input regarding my problem. My new to me 92 Excel seems to shift hard into reverse no matter how hard you try to feather the shift. During my first launch there was a ratcheting sound coming from the bell housing area, which I assume was the damper plate, and the boat wanted to stall when shifted into gear. I did some research and noticed that the engine was idling at approximately 600 RPM in gear. I bumped the idle speed up to 750-800 RPM, the ratcheting sound is gone, the engine no longer wants to stall out, but I feel the shift into reverse is harder than normal. Another problem is I have not been on a CC of this era so I don't know what "normal" shifting is. I will say that shifting into forward seems nice and smooth though.

The boat has 435 hours on it. The tranny fluid has about 5 hours on it. The old fluid did not smell burnt or appear dirty. The same is true for the v-drive fluid. I do need to check the alignment yet.

I'm thinking that I have a damper plate problem. Does anyone have any input? Am I on the right path or could I be chasing nothing?



    

Thanks for the advice. I will remove the cable and shift the trans manually to see if it shifts any different.

Will a new damper plate make noise if the idle is set too low? The ratcheting sound went away when I started bumping up the idle. I have the idle set at 750-800 RPM at the moment because the boat wanted to stall when cold if it was any less. Because of this, and hesitation out of the hole, I'm going to rebuild the carb this winter.