1980 Merc 25 stuck in down position. Help

[Oshen941]

I took my motor off the boat to build a Jack Plate. Before I did, the tilt up and down worked fine. Then when I put the motor back on the Jack Plate the tilt was stuck in the lower position. I've tried it in forward gear reverse gear in neutral and now it doesn't work. Someone before me put a zip tie around this shift linkage area. What do I do?

 

[flyingscott]

Does the motor shift correctly?

 

[Danr62]

Should be a washer on the shift rod just below that bail, washer raises bail to release tilt lock when in forward gear. Someone lost the washer dropping lower unit (easy to do/easy to miss) and didn't put it back in place. Cable tie now does the washers duty, works yea but not the best solution as plastic tie subject to fail at any moment. Result in motor locked down while underway= could be bad if motor encounters something unmovable.

Make sure the shift rod raises that bail unlocking tilt lock when shifter is in forward gear. If not adjust until it does (replacing the factory "washer" would be ideal) but tightening that cable tie a little bit might suffice for the time being too!