Merc 140 shifter problems

[cleon11]

I have a 1986 140 mercruiser Alpha One. The trouble is with my shift lever when shifting from forward to neutral or reverse to neutral. When in gear the throttle moves smoothly but when shifting back into neutral, it is very hard and is often pulled past neutral and into reverse or vise versa. When the motor is off, everything shifts smoothly from forward to neutral and reverse. It seems that when it is in gear, it is very hard to pull it out of gear. Can you help??<br /><br />Noel

 

[HULKSTERUPS]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

Yes mine does the same ,I used wd40 on the cables and it didnt do anything,maybe someone out there has the answer.

 

[paintman_15]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

No expert, but I would suggest changing the lower shift cable. Just did my first one today on the same engine. Look under the drive and see if the cable housing is pulled away from the nut that screws into the lower unit (just after the bellows). Can create a kinda sling shot effect when shifting gears.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

I think dumbnut has the correct Answer.......

 

[chuck in WA]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

I have the same situation with my 140 - makes it difficult to dock/trailer for sure. I just installed a new lower shift cable however, so I'm guessing our problem lies elsewhere. I just got this boat and had to change the bellows and shift cable before I could take it out for the first time, so I don't know how or if it operated differently before.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

Once the Lower Shift Cable is Replaced,<br />It Has to be Adjusted Properly........<br />Look in the FAQ section..... I believe there's a posting there for the procedure.......

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

Here is the adjustment procedure:<br /><br />

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

Here is a more complete procedure including adjusting your interrupt switch:<br /><br /> http://www.sterndrive.cc/pdf/shift.pdf

 

[tommays]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

just my guess but it sounds like the shift interrupter switch is not killing the motor during shifts<br /><br />tommays

 

[cleon11]

Re: Merc 140 shifter problems

As it turned out, tommays guess was right. I had to adjust the shift interrupter according to this FAQ: http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=000029 <br /><br />Noel