have a mid 70's 888 mercruiser stern drive and am having problems getting the lower unit to shift.Took boat it worked fine going out. When we started it up to come back in for the day the engine satrted back up no problem, but we couldnt get the boat to shift into drive and had to get towed back in. Removed lower unit to investagate and decided to install new gaskets, water pump impeller, and seals. Put the whole thing back together and still cant get the lower unit to shift at all even out of the water. Cheked the lower unit and there are no metal flakes in the oil or on the magnet plug. When we had the lower unit off we could shift the lower unit by hand no problem in forward and in reverse. Our wives keep laughing at us because every time we take the boat out we have another problem with it. I want to make them laugh no more. Anybody got any suggestions as to what the problem might be. Tried adjusting the shift cable at the shift lever on top of the engine and the shift cable is not long enough to push the shift lever until the clutch dog engages. I dont know whats goin on.
