cant change gears when in water

[beninlou]

i have seen a few similar questions but not sure if this is the same problem. i have a 79 mercruiser 898 just put a motor in it i took it out for the first time tonight and when i put the boat in it got stuck in reverse i turned the motor off and it went right in to neutral and it does the same thing in forward.but when the boat is on muffs it goes right into neutral just like it should any help in the right direction would be very helpful thanks ben

 

[ziggy]

Re: cant change gears when in water

this might help ya a little...
http://www.mercstuff.com/noneutral.htm

 

[beninlou]

Re: cant change gears when in water

im gonna try and adjust it tommorow thanks for the help i hope thats all it needs

 

[180shabah]

Re: cant change gears when in water

Sounds like it's time for a new lower shift cable.

 

[beninlou]

Re: cant change gears when in water

well i adjusted the cable i havent took it out yet but the cable moves freely by hand

 

[Fishermark]

Re: cant change gears when in water

I would certainly check your shift interrupt switch first. It sounds more like a faulty switch, or the wiring to the switch than the actual cable.

With the engine running, manually depress the switch and see if the engine dies. If it doesn't, then you've found the problem.

 

[Bondo]

Re: cant change gears when in water

i have a 79 mercruiser 898 just put a motor in it

Ayuh,...... Welcome Aboard Beninlou,.....

My Guess is you messed up the wiring at the Shift Interupt Switch when you install the New motor....


Btw,.......
Punctuation,+ paragraphs will make you Questions must Easier for Us to read........

 

[beninlou]

Re: cant change gears when in water

never did do good in school. so ill try my best
but the switch is working when i push it in so maybe its just not hitting the arm right.but i see no adjustment for it.

 

[180shabah]

Re: cant change gears when in water

Sounds like it's time for a new lower shift cable.

When the cable gets old it stretches and will no longer hit the switch when you try to shift into neutral. Once it stretches, it is time for replacement. Not real expensive(parts), but there is some labor involved.

 

[beninlou]

Re: cant change gears when in water

that must be the problem because i just got back and it has the same problem but when i have someone work the shifter and i manually push the switch it goes right into neutral

 

[beninlou]

Re: cant change gears when in water

i cant beleave they dont make that switch adjustable

 

[180shabah]

Re: cant change gears when in water

i cant beleave they dont make that switch adjustable

It keeps people from tearing up thier drives. Stretched cables don't do the job quite the way a good cable does, ie sloppy shifting. If the switch was adjustable, how many people do you know that would replace the defective cable, when they could just slide the switch around and get a few more years out of it. Then they would complain about he durability of the drive after it prematurely took a dump due to increased wear caused by not having the gears fully engaged while running for that "few more years"