Yachting and Boating World forums: Remote gear shift problem

Hi,
I wonder whether anyone has any info or advice on the following problem.

My Kingfisher 30 has a Volvo MD2B with the gearbox without a separate oil system. The gearbox has a vertical lever for gear selection. This lever is remotely activated by a rather curious system which I have never seen on any other boat. In essence, there is a gear lever in the cockpit which is fitted to a splined shaft which is in what looks like a hydraulic actuator. From this two small bore plastic pipes go to an identical "actuator" the lever of which is splinted to the gearbox lever with jubilee clips. The slightest movement of the cockpit lever results in instant movement of the gearbox lever. Or did!!
The boat has been laid up and the engine has not been run for 2 years. Upon starting it today, forward gear would not select. Reverse was fine and operating the gearbox mounted lever resulted in ahead and astern selecting normally. There is clearly something amiss with this remote operating system.
My question is: Has anyone seen a system like this before and if so any ideas?
Thank you

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