1989 mercury 115hp wont shift into gear

[StevenV]

I just picked up a 1989 bass tracker boat with the mercury 115 on it, motor has has been mostly rebuilt (is what the last owner said/with receipts.) and runs great. But it only revs up when it should be engaging into gear forward or reverse. No clunk or grinding, shift cables are moving on the motor, just need help where I should start.. I'm hoping its a simple fix. Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Chris1956]

Does the motor stay in neutral, or forward? Are the cables installed correctly? The shift cable should move forward immediately, when moving the throttle handle forward. After the shift cable stops moving, the throttle cable will then start to move.

 

[StevenV]

Well working on it this morning, it stays in neutral so I disconnected the shifting cable from the motor and the rod to the lower unit rotates freely while running. I'm draining the lower unit now and about to pull it off. And feeling the oil I didnt notice any metal shaving in it.

 

[StevenV]

Correction, metal shavings on drain plug.

 

[Chris1956]

Is the upper shift shaft actually connected to the lower shift shaft? Minor amounts of metal shavings are normal. Chunks of metal are very bad.

 

[StevenV]

When I was lining every thing up, the shift rod in the mid section above the lower unit is sticking thru the wrong hole. Do I have to drop down the whole mid section to move the rod to line up with the connection in the lower unit?