'98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

[importeater]

I think I know the problem, but haven't messed with outboards much so I need some help from those that know. I just purchased this boat and was told the water pump impeller had just been changed. I took it out on the lake and it did fine all day. There were a few forward and reverse gear changes. Then all of a sudden I noticed it will not come out of forward gear. So no nuetral or reverse. Acts as though it's locked up and I don't want to pull to hard and damage the cable.

Is it possible when they put the lower unilt back on the shifter lever was not lined up properly? I just don't know why it worked as long as it did if that is the issue. I haven't done anything yet so I wanted to get some info first. Of course it won't start since it won't go into nuetral.

 

[carholme]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

eater;

The first thing to do is disconnect the shifter cable and make sure that the LU is capable of shifting into each gear and that for each gear, you have correct prop rotation.

What is your s/n? There are 3 and 4 cylinder and 2 or 4 stroke engines.

Gerry

 

[importeater]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

Sorry, 2 stroke 3 cyl motor. I disconnected the cable to make sure it wasn't the shifter. But I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to try and change the gear in the LU.

After I realized it wouldn't shift out of forward I still drove it around a while to get back to the dock. It throttled up and down fine just would'nt go into nuetral. I did play with the trim when I was running it before it happened to make sure it was all working fine. I don't know if that is something that could have contributed to the issue or not.

 

[Maxz695]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

did you try to trim it up in REV that would damage the cam in the LU

 

[importeater]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

I'm pretty sure I didn't, but anythings possible. I don't know why I would have trimmed it up much when I was running it in reverse. What do I need to look for?

 

[Maxz695]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

if after disconnecting the shifter cable from the engine and the shifter seems fine then try to shift the slide for the shifter shaft and see if it can change gears there. You may have to trun the flywheel a bit to get it to engage. if you cannot manually shift the gears at that point you have a problem in the lU and it must be removed to find out what is wrong. there is a sequence to putting this back up. post your findings

 

[importeater]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

I will get back down to the boat in the next day os so and see if the lu will shift. Would it be possible when they put the LU back and the shif rod wasn't aligned properly that is would shift ok a few times then become stuck?

 

[Maxz695]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

If it was working correctly the it was installed correctly. The thing is you have to see if it,s the throttle or the lu. check the throttle as described first. There is a chance they put the cam in the wrong position and damage has been done to it. i would be guessing to say this is the problem. it must be given further investigation. Then write back

 

[Maxz695]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

The prop locks in both directions in reverse. It locks one way and ratchets the other in foward gear, and it spins freely in both directions in the neautral position. Then you have to make sure he cam is aligned correctly 1) High spot R <-^ in neutral is left of the front center of the LU 2) Mid lift on cam N ^ is center of the front of the LU that faces the boat, and the Low side of the cam F ^->is to the right of the front center of the LU^. This is what it should look like in Neutral R<-N^F> N is Center front of the forward point part of the casing facing the boat ^ <-^-> R N F R Hi spot of the cam N is Mid dentent F Low spot of the cam. Because truning the shaft from Neutral into fowards is counter clockwise, the "cam is truning clockwise to get forward position from neutral. visa versa for Reverse.

 

[carholme]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

eater;

Here is the manual for your engine:

http://1manual.com/Mercury manuals/Service Manual PDFs/TwoStroke/830234r3/cover.pdf

You must have Adobe Acrobat reader installed to use this manual. If you scroll down to the lower part of the opening page, you will see the various engine components in red. Click on the one you want and when the first page opens, click on the "Save As" icon at the top LH corner of the page and you can save it to your computer.

Suggest before you get back down to the boat, you read up on the Gear Housing section, paying close attention to the Installation Procedure beginning on Page 6A-34.

As well, here is the parts listing for your engine:

http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury-outboard/554.cfm

Gerry

 

[importeater]

Re: '98 Mercury 90 locked in forward

Thanks to all with the great info. I will post back as what I find when look it over.
Mark