Lower unit stuck in forward even with shift shaft all the way counter clockwise.

[swire]

I have a 1998 90hp that I just changed the impeller on. When I put the lower unit back on the prop spun forward when I started it, put it in forward, and put it in reverse. I pulled the lower unit and re-installed making sure shift linkage was lined and got the same result. I pulled the lower unit again and manually turned the shift shaft as I was spinning the prop forward. I can hear the clicking noise from spinning the prop forward no matter what position the shift shaft is in. That is from all the way clockwise forward to all the way counter clockwise. The shaft rotates about 200 degrees. It is my understanding the clicking would stop in neutral and the prop would be hard to turn in reverse.

Everything seemed to be working fine before I removed the lower. Does this mean that something with the gear shift is broke inside the lower unit? My g/f wants me to take her out for fishing and boating this weekend for her birthday. So I'm scrambling to figure out what is going on.

 

[Chris1956]

Turn the shift shaft on the gearcase all the way CCW. Now use a cresent wrench to gently, but firmly turn it a bit more. It should "click" into neutral. Now set the control to neutral and reinstall gearcase.

 

[swire]

That is similar to what a guy at a marine shop told me today, except the opposite direction. He said to take vice-grips and crank on it clockwise until it clicks/pops. He said he recently had to do that to another 90hp Mercury. He said it would get tight and feel like the shaft was going to break before it clicked.

Your method sounds safer so I will try it first and hope for the best. Worst case I try the other method and hope I don't break anything.

 

[Chris1956]

If you check the direction the upper shift shaft moves, you will see that movement from forward to neutral is CCW. I am not sure what "the guy" at the shop was thinking.

 

[swire]

He may have been confusing his terms. I asked him twice though because I knew CCW was how to get to neutral but he confirmed clockwise. Hopefully I'll be reporting success in a couple hours. Thanks for the info.

 

[swire]

The crescent wrench did the trick. I'm not sure why the vice-grips I tried last night didn't work. Anyway I now have forward, reverse and sort of neutral.

In neutral the prop slowly spins in reverse. I don't recall it doing that before. I tried changing which spline the shift link attached to with no luck. I made some finer adjustments on the shift cable but the prop still spins in reverse. When I move the throttle forward there is just a hairline spot where the prop stops spinning. You go past that hair and it jumps into forward. Doesn't look like there is anything I can do externally to change that.

Again thanks for the help.

 

[Chris1956]

The prop can spin when the motor is running on the flusher, due to the gear oil swishing around. That is pretty normal. The test for neutral (engine off) is to spin the prop a full turn in each direction. If it does that, it is in neutral. After you have it in neutral, remove the shift cable from it's clamp and adjust the barrel nut so the shift slider is centered in the neutral detent.