40hp force motor stopped going into gear

[karmasteve]

Hey guys i hope you can help. I have a 95 40 hp force motor and has worked great for many years. The last time I took it out everything was going fine until I tried to take it out of gear... didnt work, so I put it into reverse and it lunged forward. I ended up having to turn it off to prevent crashing into the dock. Since then the boat wont go into gear, an occasional grinding sound is what I get. I also noticed the prop wont turn when I push on it. Ive been told by a friend that it could be the gear box? or possibly the gear shaft. If so, because my boat is of age would it be easier to by a foot off craigslist? Please let me know what you think, im dieing to get back on the water. Thanks.

[Jeremy90bay]

if your thinking about buying a foot anyway what do you have to lose in taking yours apart. Take it apart and see what you got. Post pics so we can see and give you a better idea.

[humdogj]

I'm interested to see how this turns out. I just finished doing my dad's carb and we got the pontoon back into the water. It ran fine from the boat landing to my dad's.

Today, he calls me and tells me that it went into reverse, but it wouldn't go into forward. Then, he says it doesn't go into anything. I wonder if it's something similar to what you have going on, or if it's something different. I don't know where to start so any other advice would be great.

His has always made a slight grind when going into reverse, but it didn't seem to do any harm. It had done that for years. Wonder if that has something to do with it now.

[karmasteve]

if your thinking about buying a foot anyway what do you have to lose in taking yours apart. Take it apart and see what you got. Post pics so we can see and give you a better idea.

I was only going to purchase the new (used) foot because I was told the gear box was more difficult and expensive than buying a used foot. Ill try to post pics tomorrow. Thanks for getting back to me.