Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

[aussietom]

I replaced the impeller in my 1980s Mercury 40HP 2 stoke. Fixed water problem but now motor is in gear when I start it, wont go into neutral.
What have I done wrong?

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

You inadvertantly moved the lower shift shaft. You need to drop it back down and put it back in neutral, then re-install.

There's a thread on here titled "forward/reverse backward" that goes into a lot of detail if you want to look it up.

Best of Luck to you!

 

[emckelvy]

Re: Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

Welcome to the forum. You have misaligned the shift shaft to the upper shift rod. That's why it won't shift to the other gears.

To fix the problem, pull the lower unit back down, and turn the shift shaft by hand (use pliers/vice grips cushioned so they won't mar the shaft) to Neutral. From Fwd gear, go CCW until you feel resistance then a detent, this should be Neutral. Verify by rotating the prop. Make sure the remote control box is also shifted to Neutral and reinstall the lower unit.

For more info on this very common problem, use the forum's search tools. Do a search, for example on "stuck in forward" and you'll see tons of results which explain this issue and the fix for it in great detail.

HTH..............ed

 

[Dave1027]

Re: Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

My Mercury service manual says to put it in forward gear before removing the lower unit. Is that the best practice?

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

I've always used neutral when removing. The manual should give you an alignment point for the shift block for the re-install.

 

[patrolman]

Re: Mercury impeller replaced motor always in gear

How do I disconnect the sht lever shaft?? I have a 1974 4hp 2 stroke. I,ve loosened the 2 nuts and I can see the spline on the shift lever shaft but, it would slide out of the shift lever gear under the carb. I don't see any clip or set screw.