Hard shifting and some grinding...

[roozterdvx]

'98 Mariner 225EFI
This thing has had a hard shifting effort since I got it and I've been trying to track this down. I figured the pivot bushing under the powerhead might be bound up with crud/salt/etc. so i've been spraying the s**t out of it with penetrating oil after every trip, during storage, and before every trip.
By the way, I disconnected the cables at the motor and the controls move easily so I eliminated the possibility of cables or helm control.
Spraying the pivot seems to have helped, the shifting got a little easier but still not perfect.
I went out this past weekend and the shifting effort is the same but now I'm getting some grinding before it engages forward gear. Reverse seems to be about the same as before, just a little grind, 1 sec maybe, then it engages. Forward grinds for what seems like forever unless I advance the throttle a little, then is slams into gear. I know this can't be good for my L/U.

I'm thinking that when I disconnected the cables to check for ease of movement, the shift cable may have come out of adjustment. When I was moving the controls I felt a slight hang-up and looked back, the threaded adjuster was getting caught as the cable was moving.

Does anyone know the correct proceedure for adjustment?

I'm also getting ready to drop the L/U to change the water pump. When I do, I'll disconnect the cable again to see if the shift shaft moves freely with no gear case attached.
(I don't know what's worse, if it's tight and I have to remove the powerhead to fix it, or if it moves easily and i have to dissassemble my L/U to fix it.)

 

[flabum]

Re: Hard shifting and some grinding...

There are a few possibilities here. first, the upper or lower motor mounts could be bad putting pressure on the shift rod. The shift rod travels down throught the steering shaft and into the lower unit. You can see this shaft where it exits the bottom of the tube and enters the lower unit....look for binding there.

second, it could be a corroded shift shaft bushing in the lower unit. You will need to remove the lower unit to check this. Remove the lower unit and try turning the shifter back and forth and see if there is a lot of resistance there.

Third, it could be the shift linkages unde the powerhead..... with the lower unit off, remove the shift cable and see if there is any binding in the linkages on the motor.

Lastly, it could be a problem inside the lower unit.

 

[roozterdvx]

Re: Hard shifting and some grinding...

I'm planning on removing the powerhead to replace the bolts on the upper mounts, (one of the bolt heads is corroded really bad) and will check the pivot bushings and linkage.

Is it common for the motor mounts to go bad? Should I order new upper mounts when I order the hardware?

I'm ordering the bolts, nuts, and gasket along with some spare parts for the throttle linkage and bolts for the lower mounts, (one nut is corroded so I figured I'd replace both nuts and bolts).

I'm hoping it's not a problem in the L/U. It's bad enough that I'm removing the powerhead and dropping the lower to replace the water pump and funds are a little short with X-mas just barely behind us.