1984 mercury 9.8 stuck in reverse

[Jeremys73]

I just bought this motor and was messing with it. It wouldn't go into reverse so I pushed the shift lever way back and it went into reverse, but now it's stuck in reverse. I dropped the LU and it shifts fine. It's the upper linkage or something jammed... IDK

Any ideas?

 

[Texasmark]

The manual I had on a 90 hp engine said that if you force the shift lever into R without the engine running or prop shaft turning, You would damage your linkage....aka bend it. Reverse gear is setup with square cogs and slots. The two have to be perfectly aligned for the shift to be accomplished. If not, the cog just rests against the face of the R gear and goes no farther. The linkage however has room to travel and will bend. My guess is that you have to pull your shift rod and straighten it out. Then the next time you decide to shift into R, do as I said above. It should slip right in when you get them lined up. N connects to nothing, and F is a sawtoothed overrun clutch sort of thing and it doesn't matter if the engine is running or prop shaft turning or not.

 

[Jeremys73]

No, the linkage rotates, the little wire just engages the reverse lockout. My gears aren't damaged as they're in the LU and shifting fine .

Anyone else?

 

[Jeremys73]

Ok, I figured it out. And TexasMark, really dude, save that smugness for your self.

So, for future readers. On this, these 1980 models 9.8 mercury that are stuck in reverse. Won't shift out of reverse.

This motor seems to have been tinkered with before as its missing the starter and apparently a few other parts.

There is a lever of some sort right under the bowl of the carburetor that keeps it from disengaging. I don'tknow what it is supposed to do ooriginally bit mine might be missing a part.

All I did was push it with a flat head and got it to go into neutral

 

[frobotz]

Only one being smug is you. He answered your question correctly and with fact. Good luck and happy boating.

IIRC that part your pushing I believe allows the motor to lock to the pin. It doesn't lock in forward in case you hit a stump or something submerged. Sounds like you are missing some pieces.

 

[Texasmark]

Only one being smug is you. He answered your question correctly and with fact. Good luck and happy boating.

IIRC that part your pushing I believe allows the motor to lock to the pin. It doesn't lock in forward in case you hit a stump or something submerged. Sounds like you are missing some pieces.

Thanks. I didn't think I was being smug either.

 

[frobotz]

Thanks. I didn't think I was being smug either.

Nor did I , I actually thought the info you gave was very helpful.

 

[Bullie]

Unfortunately, sometimes its hard to get a handle on a poster's tone. A limitation of this type of communication. The upside is that most everyone here is willing to help when they take the time to post an answer. Texasmark has answered quite a few of my questions and I am sure he was trying to help again this time. Maybe the OP just read it wrong.

 

[Bullie]

In my experience, which comes to a grand total of about 6 of the 9.8s (so not much) is that the linkage is easy to reconnect incorrectly and it only gives you two of the 3 positions. Perhaps the person you got it from had the linkage connected incorrectly and it may go together and work fine when you get the selector and LU in the same position.

 

[Texasmark]

In my experience, which comes to a grand total of about 6 of the 9.8s (so not much) is that the linkage is easy to reconnect incorrectly and it only gives you two of the 3 positions. Perhaps the person you got it from had the linkage connected incorrectly and it may go together and work fine when you get the selector and LU in the same position.

Thank you sir, and that you mentioned IS a common problem...something you can easily overlook when you are doing the work, not supervising (watching) someone else work.