1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

[regregan]

Just changed the impeller in my 1995 Mercury Force 120 hp. The change went well and relatively easy. I followed the manual and dropped the lower unit while in forward. I replaced the plate and gaskets on the water pump housing and all looked good with only minimal signs of wear. The first time I reinstalled the lower unit it appeared to fit well with only a slight CCW turn of the prop to align the drive shaft. A CW turn of the prop gave a ratcheting sound which is expected in forward gear according to the manual.

I placed the throttle/shifter in neutral and the engine started right up however the prop is engaged. I tried forward, neutral and reverse, gear remains in forward.

I also changed out the gear oil and have read about the danger of removing the "pivot pin" however the manual indicated the 3 screws to remove to drain and fill the gear oil. No mention of a "pivot pin" on this model.

It seems that the shift shaft is not engaging (disengaging) the neutral and reverse gear.

I moved the shifter handle with the lower unit off and watched the shift shaft coming from the top and it moves very slightly about an 1/8 -1/4 turn. Is this normal?

thoughts,

Regan

 

[mikesboat]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

I had the same issue when i changed my water pump. apparently the shift cable & pin are not alligned in the same gear. going to have to drop the lower unit again & change their positions so that they line up in the correct gear. it is normal for the shift cable to rotate very minimally...doesn't take much to change the gears.

 

[HD Fatboy?]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

I did the same thing with mine, I had to put the drop lower unit again, put shifter in nuetral, turn coupler very small increments untill prop would spin free. Then bolt up lower unit again. took about 10 mins.

 

[regregan]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

Thanks guys, I'm going to try it right now,

So I assume I didn't mess with the pivot pin (if this motor even has one) by removing the lower screw to drain the gear oil.

 

[regregan]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

Ok, I tried to adjust the shift shaft but I only get the ratcheting rotating CW. If I use a set of pliers and gently turn to resistance , the prop turns freely but there seems to be some tension on the shift shaft and when i loosen the pliers it goes back to ratcheting. I don't want to turn to hard but should this be a finger adjustment or do I need to turn past the resistance with the visegrips?

 

[Dave1027]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

Ok, I tried to adjust the shift shaft but I only get the ratcheting rotating CW. If I use a set of pliers and gently turn to resistance , the prop turns freely but there seems to be some tension on the shift shaft and when i loosen the pliers it goes back to ratcheting. I don't want to turn to hard but should this be a finger adjustment or do I need to turn past the resistance with the visegrips?

I'm thinking turn past the resistance. It's not a finger tight thing.

BTW, when you turn the prop CCW you are spinning the driveshaft backwards and binding the impeller the wrong way. You should instead turn the flywheel the correct direction a small amount instead.

 

[regregan]

Re: 1995 120 hp Force by Mercury Marine - impeller change now stuck in forward

Thanks, just used some visegrips with a piece of cloth wrapped around the shift shaft coupler and it clicked right into neutral with gentle pressure. Bolted up the lower unit and everything works great!!

Thanks for the advise on the flywhhel rotation, I used it and it worked great,

Thanks everyone, this one was a real butt puckerer. Thought I was going to have to disassemble the entire lower unit!!

God I love the internet!

 

[jdanielbiz@gmail.com]

I am having the same issue. with the lower unit out, laying on a table, a friend and I found all three gear locations by gently turning the shift shaft, put the gear case in forward, the control in forward, installed the lower unit with very little drive shaft movement needed, and it is locked in forward! I am very frustrated with this as I cannot find a local shop that will help. I removed the shift shaft lever and turned the shaft with the gear case installed no luck finding anything but forward. I will try to find neutral this time and install it again. Try # 4. Any suggestions?

 

[Lavern]

I did all of the above to try and get it into reverse . When I bolted the bottom end on, there was a slight click and the bottom end slid right on.
Anyways, when I still had the bottom end off, I pulled on the shift rod and it came out approx 1/2 inch and suddenly I noticed engine oil pouring out from underneath. I lost all my engine oil. When possibly could have happened here ?