Shift Rod not connected??

[John89z24]

Hi everyone... well yesterday i changed the impeller on my 1980ish 85hp merc outdrive, and ofcoarse i played if the shift rod, taking out of alignment.. (didn't read the instructions pryer to doing the job) so now the its stuck in forward gear... I have read every single post on this site, and every other web site with no luck... the problem is I can move the shift rod on the lower unit about 3/4 of a turn in either direction, with out shifting anything or feel any resistance at all, once in awhile i'll feel a little bit of a grind in certain spots, but other then that, it doesn't do anything else... do i screw something up real bad?? i've tryied moving the rod slowly whille spin the prop, and nothing changes... please help... thank you in advance John

 

[emckelvy]

Re: Shift Rod not connected??

All the movement you're feeling in the shift shaft is when the unit is in forward gear.

You can't move the shift shaft with your fingers to get to Neutral or Reverse.

You'll need to cushion with tape the jaws of a suitable pair of Vise Grips, pliers, etc, grab hold of the shift shaft, and rotate Counter-Clockwise until you feel a lot of resistance. At this point, any further rotation of the shift shaft CCW will get you to Neutral. Once you're in Neutral, one more "click" CCW and you're in Reverse.

Once in Reverse, don't turn the shift shaft any more in the CCW direction. To get back to Neutral, rotate the shaft CW.

You'll probably have better luck reinstalling the lower unit when it's in Neutral, just make sure your control box is shifted to Neutral as well.

HTH.......ed

 

[John89z24]

Re: Shift Rod not connected??

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! man, i should of posted this on friday, insted i screwed with that thing for 2 days now.... read your post, 20 mins later, she's back up and running... I cant thank you enough.. local mechanic wanted 250 to look at it..... man i owe you... thanks a ton....