No Forward!!!

[benlange]

1972 inline 6 cyl 165 hp merc pre alpha.

Changed impeller. Somehow, even though we were extremely careful, something happened. We got on the water and put it in reverse... easy shifting backed out smooth. Turned and tried to go forward... lever would not go beyond neutral! took it out of the water, removed lower unit thinking the shift shaft had moved. with lower off it still will not go into forward, and the upper shift shaft does not move when throttle is put in reverse. What did I do?!?!?!?!

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

what can I do?

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

Is this issue already posted, if so sorry about the dup.

 

[searay3]

Re: No Forward!!!

Pull the drive off again. Shift lever in forward. Turn the shift dog straight forward on the drive. Using a bungee cord, lock the prop against the shift mechanism, CCW. Put the drive on. Do not let the drive prop lose the bungee pressure, or it will be out of gear again. Check to make sure you didn't bend the shift dog if it wasn't in forward and you forced it. Procedure is in your free manual.

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

ah, but here is the trick on this one... the shifter will not go into forward, with or without the lower installed. It goes into reverse easily, but not forward. Is this a cable issue?

 

[searay3]

Re: No Forward!!!

Your symptoms are typical of not having everything in forward gear when you reassemble. next I would move to where the cables connect at the motor. Disconnect and see if you can shift forward to reverse by hand. It should quite easily. Then you'll know if it's in the control or in the outdrive.

 

[searay3]

Re: No Forward!!!

If all you did was spilt the upper and lower, you didn't have the lower locked in forward when you reassembled.

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

with cables removed the shifting is easy, so it should be the outdrive. the foot in the upper is not pointing forward, and i can't force it by hand either. it is stuck between neutral and reverse (10 and 11 o'clock). did i damage something in the upper? do I need to remove that now?

 

[searay3]

Re: No Forward!!!

If you are not getting the foot straight forward, you have the lower off by a tooth. The control lever and lower unit have to be in the same gear position to fit back together properly. Put the control in forward, check the foot. If it is not straight forward ( it has to be or you can't get the entire drive back on)drop the lower again. Get the lower locked in forward, control in forward, put the lower back on. Should work. Whats confusing, is you say you can shift easily without the control. If that is the case, the control would be the faulty piece. But I would make darn sure you have it asssembled correctly before you look elsewhere. I am assuming it was working prior to your impellor swap.

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

I can shift the control easily with the cables removed, i did this to see if it was the control or cables keeping the foot from going straight... not the case. with the cables removed the foot should be able to be moved into the forward position by hand, correct? The foot is "stuck" in the neutral / reverse position. It seems to me that something wicked bad went wrong with the shifting mechanism in the upper?!?!

 

[searay3]

Re: No Forward!!!

It did not. All shifting is in the lower. You did not have things lined up correctly when you put the lower on. Until you follow the steps correctly it will not work. Take the lower back off and set everything up as described and it will shift.

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

This is what I am trying to say, the lower is off. With the lower off the control would not shift forward. So l removed the cables from the shift plate to see if the problem was the control or cables, the control went forward and back easily. This means the problem is between the shift plate and the shift foot, this is what has the foot "stuck" in the non-forward position. I have replaced the impeller before and have raised and lowered the lower unit half a dozen times, so I know how to line everything up to get it together properly. This is something completely different this time.

 

[benlange]

Re: No Forward!!!

I have also disconnected the cable that goes from the shift plate to the outdrive from the shift plate. something is stuck between the cable and the shift foot.