80ish Mariner 60 won't go in reverse

[bankermike]

I have an older (1980ish) mariner 60 on my old pontoon boat. Here's what happened. The pontoon boat was stuck on the shore and I was trying to get it unstuck by myself. I had the motor running and in reverse gear with the throttle about 3/4 opening while I was pushing on the front of the boat trying to get it free from the shore. The motor suddenly started bouncing...I guessing the reverse lock broke, slipped or something...I ran to the controls to put the motor back in neutral and thats the last time I've been able to get it to go into reverse. Where should I begin to look to find the problem?

 

[Maxz695]

Re: 80ish Mariner 60 won't go in reverse

check the area under the back of the engine where the two hooks that grab the long pin are and see if there free. ( Move up and down) in neutral. That is the reverse lock. The cam follower on the shifter shaft turns as the gears are switched. When in reverse the cam lifts the lock down closing the hooks on the long pin thus not allowing the engine to lif in reverse. If this is stuck I would drop the lower unit and repair the cam. There may be pieces of it jaming the cam and not allowing you to shift into reverse. This is a very good possibility you will need a new cam.

 

[bankermike]

Re: 80ish Mariner 60 won't go in reverse

Thanks, I'll check that out. I'm not sure I made myself clear in my original post. I can move the shifter into reverse but it won't engage. I do get a bit of grinding sound though.

 

[Maxz695]

Re: 80ish Mariner 60 won't go in reverse

ouch thats a different story altogether. Ok disconnect the shifter cable from the engine and try to see if you can manually put it reverse.The prop locks in both directions in Reverse. Neutral spins freely, and forwards locks in one direction and clicks in the other direction. This will help you decide weather it a cable or throrrle thing or if theres a problem in the LU. I t still amy be a shifter cable adjustment as well as a broken cam. If the shifter cable was far enough out of line this would be the reason your cam let go and broke ( Not fully engaged). It would also explain being able to shift fully on the throttle and not fully on the shifter shaft with the help of the broken cam restricting it further

 

[bankermike]

Re: 80ish Mariner 60 won't go in reverse

I got the toon out of the water and had the prop re-hubbed. After installing the prop I ran the motor on muffs and it seemed to be shifting in and out of all gears fine. With the motor not running I shifted into Fwd., prop spins one way and ratchets the other. In Rev. it is locked both ways...locked well enough to turn over the motor either way. I put the toon back in the water and now it won't shift into Rev. Acts like it's not engaging all the way or something. I guess I'm going to have to pull it back out and drop the L/U.