oh jeeeze

[GQFLATTYCHASER87]

so we have a 1996 120 force by mercury... we did the impeller and lower unit oil and had f/n/r when running on the muffs.. took her out for the maiden voyage and when going into reverse it would click and clack! so no reverse. we thought maybe linkage but there wasnt enough room for adjustment. we dropped the lower unit and we have 3/4 turn of play in the shift shaft... so we are thinking the cam either moved or we messed something bad up... hoping not to hear the B.O.A.T ( bring out another thousand) answer lol any ideas or ways to fix this. we are noobs at this without a lot of money and we got the boat for a great deal... one problem that the guy we got it from said the last time the lower unit was serviced it made the controls backwards meaning forward was reverse and reverse was forward..... thanks gents appreciate youll knowledge and ideas in advance

 

[HotTommy]

Just for clarification. Are you saying it has never worked properly since you've owned it? Or did it work ok until the lower unit work?

 

[jerryjerry05]

You have to turn the prop shaft as you shift gears.
Try again.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Assuming this is a Mercury lower unit with the rotating shift shaft: Drop the lower unit again. Now using a pliers CAREFULLY so you don't ****-up the splines, move the shift shaft to the detents in forward and reverse. THEN after having established forward, neutral and reverse, put the shift shaft in neutral. NOW set the control box into neutral. Re- attach the lower unit and everything should be aligned.

 

[GQFLATTYCHASER87]

to answer the first reply, when we got it the previous owner said that Forward was Reverse and reverse was forward... said the shift cam needed to be flipped over? we did the lower unit work and then all we had was forward ( when we moved the shifter to forward) and no reverse.... so we got a manual and took the lower unit apart thinking that we maybe got the shift cam in the wrong position... ( when we did the lower unit we not knowingly move the shiftshaft far enough to let that cam slide over). we took it apart and according to the manual put it in the correct position but there was no picture so thats what im researching now. looking for a picture of the shift cam position in the lower unit.will try the prop shaft turning while changing gears tomorrow, and we did put it in neutral and try again. then in forward. then in reverse all to the same avail... not sure and we are really scratching our heads at this one. thank you very much for the ideas and feedback. back at it again tomorrow hopefully with better luck....