Desperately Seeking Control Handle Assembly for 2008 Utopia 205 SE

[TheTripletDaddy]

Hi everyone, I joined just so I could follow up on this thread. Everyone wanted answers and wasn't getting any.

We bought a 2006 Utopia 205 SE a couple weeks ago and it had very sticky throttle and reverse cables. Before we could get it lubed, we proceeded to snap the lever in half out on the lake (trying to get it to go forward). We got a tow in ok, and then got to searching and found this thread. When our mechanic said they couldn't fix the lever, we took a chance and ordered the Volvo Penta 3888316 assembly from Amazon (which, btw, are about $500 now!) We got ours from seller Austral International Marine, which arrived very promptly.

Our mechanic was able to swap out just the lever part, but he had to take the OEM assembly apart and replace the black tube with it (shown in pic) with the new Volvo one (the Volvo has a different "tube" assembly). We did not need the backplate or anything else from the Volvo. It took maybe an hour for them to swap it out, and it cost us like $80. He also lubed the cables, and they are much much better too (we did not replace them).

It works just fine! Just make sure you have your mechanic start the boat in front of you to show it works before you head to the lake. We didn't have any issues with not reaching full throttle - no problem achieving 60 mph. The only difference is you have to push the lever a bit farther forward than the original to get max speed. This also fixed the boat not being in true neutral at the dock. With the original setup, it would start moving forward at the dock when the engines were started. Now it moves slightly back, which we like much more.

Total cost $580.

I was going to state that I also went ahead and bought the Penta 3888316 referenced earlier. Fortunately, the control arm from my 2008 Utopia cracked on the black plastic and not on the silver arm. So, I only had to unscrew the broken plastic and attach the new one. A very expensive $500 replacement for such a small part. That being said, I'm either going to disassemble and clean the existing control arm assembly or replace it with the new one in the off-season. Also, I believe that my throttle cables may be the bigger culprit in the "stickiness" I feel when moving forward and backward. It's nice to know if I do swap out the control arm, true neutral is achievable at start-up. Mine definitely pushes forwarded as soon as I start the engines.