Re: apparent miss under load
Either the drive dogs are worn or the shift linkage is incorrectly set. The bang you hear is after popping out of gear it drops back into mest and since the engine is running way faster than at idle it bangs rather than the normal clunk you hear upon shifting.
SO: First thing to do is to be certain that the shift linkage has equal throw in each direction and that the full throw in forward (down) fully engages the forward drive dogs.
Looking at these photos you can see the relation between the pinion, drive gears, and dog clutch. In the last photo, one of the adjustment points is below the transom clamps where the upper and lower shift linkage is held together. If you remove the pin and rotate the lower rod counterclockwise it lengthens the linkage and biases toward forward. Do not go too far or neutral will be in gear and reverse will be neutral. Try about 1/2 turn at a time. If after a couple of turns, it does not improve, the drive dogs are worn round and must be refinished or the whole gear pak replaced.
