Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replacement?

rstier

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
90
HI,
I lost forward/reverse on my 1988 Mercury 35 HP Long Shaft Outboard (non-tiller). When I pulled the lower unit, the long shift shaft fell out. It looks like it snapped up near the power head as there is still a piece in there. Any idea on the level of effort to replace this? Also, any good online guides? Trying to decide whether to cut my losses and part the motor out or fix it. I attached a pic of the part. In general, the rest of the motor is good for the age. Thanks!
Ron
 

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Charlie61

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
253
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

shop around I know you can one many used parts supply here . go to craigeslist souther fl use boat parts shipping couldn't must
 

rstier

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
90
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

Thanks for the reply. Before I started looking for the part, I wanted to find out how hard it was to replace the shaft and if there were any online guides detailing the replacement procedure.

shop around I know you can one many used parts supply here . go to craigeslist souther fl use boat parts shipping couldn't must
 

Charlie61

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
253
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

you can try you tube some times there are ton's of things about mercury outboard, if the top part is removeable it would be an easy just drop lower unit an install it a mercury www.CDI may help
 

rstier

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
90
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

Thanks for the tip, I checked YouTube but no luck. I didn't understand what you were trying to say with the link.

you can try you tube some times there are ton's of things about mercury outboard, if the top part is removeable it would be an easy just drop lower unit an install it a mercury www.CDI may help
 

ENSIGN

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
1,179
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

The shift shaft is all one piece and the power head must be removed to do so.My best advice is to buy a service manual and take lots of pictures
 

rstier

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
90
Re: Broken Shift Shaft Assembly - 88 Mercury 35 HP - Long Shaft Outboard - Replaceme

Thanks Ensign, I figured that may be the case about the power head. I do have a Seloc manual for that year but it didn't get into the shift shaft replacement detail. It does have a section on power head removal though. I guess I have to weigh out the time/cost to fix this compared to picking up another used Merc and parting this one out.

The shift shaft is all one piece and the power head must be removed to do so.My best advice is to buy a service manual and take lots of pictures
 
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