2007 mercury 50 hp l/u stuck in forwrd

[flip phone]

was changing my impeller and noticed shift shaft boot was torn. when I removed old boot pulled it into forward(l/u was removed in neutral). now I cant push down on shift shaft to put it back in neutral. is it possible that I pulled it up too far? would that mean I have to take apart l/u to reset shift shaft? Serial #1b478172

 

[Texasmark]

Merc has been using the cam shift mechanism for many many years on many many engines. The shifter doesn't push and pull, it twists. There are 3 detents in the shifter cam in the lower unit, each corresponding to a gear and a cam follower on the front of the prop shaft that follows these detents moving the gear train to the proper position. If you are in F gear the shift shaft will only turn in one direction and in doing so you can pick up N and one more detent to pick up R. Check it out. Then ensure that your shifter control is in the same position as your shifter cam.

Mark