Boat only has reverse and neutral

[No money]

I took my boat out for the First time last weekend.I had the hand control in neutral and when it started the boat was in reverse. When I put the hand control into forward it just reved up like it was in neutral. The motor is a 74 Evenrude 115HP. I need some help. Dose anyone here know whats wrong with it? I can work on cars but this is my first boat.Is the lower unit shot or is it just an ajustment I can make to fix it?

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

Ckeck the control cables back at the engine, could be a cable thats broke, or about to.

 

[Homedad]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

There is shift linkage in the lower end you can access it by a plate that is removable on the lower end. Mine did this same thing and the linkage had come apart which basically put my motor in reverse. Check this linkage to make sure it didn't slip.

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

The cables seem fine and there is no slop in the cable between the hand control and the linkage. Thanks for the reply. Any other ideas would be most helpful

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

There is shift linkage in the lower end you can access it by a plate that is removable on the lower end. Mine did this same thing and the linkage had come apart which basically put my motor in reverse. Check this linkage to make sure it didn't slip.

Is this plate on the gear case or closer to the motor? Forgive me I'm a total out board rookie. But I can build small block chevys like there is no tomorrow.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

on a 115 there is not an access panel the connection is behind the lower carb.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

There is no inspection plate on your engine, Disconnect the shift cable at the engine and see if you can shift it by hand. With the key off, slowly turn the prop while doing this.

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

There is no inspection plate on your engine, Disconnect the shift cable at the engine and see if you can shift it by hand. With the key off, slowly turn the prop while doing this.

I just tried that and is seems to be stuck in gear now The shift rod seems to be going up and down and I can hear stuff going on inside but no neutral.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

Was the lower unit oil changed lately?

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

Was the lower unit oil changed lately?

It didn't look like it. I drained the oil and there was water in it.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

When you drained the oil, did you take out the phillips head screw, by any chance?

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

When you drained the oil, did you take out the phillips head screw, by any chance?

I drained the oil today I remover the flat head screw near the bottom of the gear case. Thanks.

 

[mmccoy555]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

on a 115 there is not an access panel the connection is behind the lower carb.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

water in lower may mean rust on the shiftrod, and linkage in lower. that motor uses the bellcrank, shift on top, make it really hard to shift if rusty. i had a one in the shop that the seal was bad on the shift rod, and the rod rusty so bad you could not force it into reverse.

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

water in lower may mean rust on the shiftrod, and linkage in lower. that motor uses the bellcrank, shift on top, make it really hard to shift if rusty. i had a one in the shop that the seal was bad on the shift rod, and the rod rusty so bad you could not force it into reverse.

Do you suggest that I take the lower unit off and do some serious deep cleaning then? If so I'm not sure how to remove the lower unit. I can see the 4 bolts on the gear case but is there anything else I need to be looking for?

 

[No money]

Re: Boat only has reverse and neutral

Nevermind. I found the answer to the question myself somewhere else on the site,