1978 Mercury 1150 stuck in forward after replacing impeller

Shimpinguy

Recruit
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
1
Trying to do right by this olde girl, I replaced her H20 impeller, as I have done successfully many times before. This time, once I reinstalled the LU, it was stuck in forward gear. I tried to reinstall again, just in case I had not connected the upper and lower shaft shifter together, but still the same. I pulled out the lower unit again thinking I had missed aligned the shaft shifter at the LU. When I turn the shifter on the LU, it very easily rotates 180 degrees to a positive stop in either direction, but I cannot fell any clicks where it will go into neutral or reverse. I SLOWLY turned the shifter shaft while turning the prop, then even tried turning the drive shaft, trying to find any other gear but it did not change. I can get the shifter to lock all the way counterclockwise, then after, putting the boat throttle shifter into forward and reinstalling the LU, still the same.
Could the shift shaft been pulled up out of the dog gears (not sure I am saying the internal right part) when I lowered the unit the first time? Maybe the joint between the upper and lower shift shaft was stuck and lifted out the shaft from the LU. If so, do I have to disassemble the entire lower end to fix the problem or just the shift shaft on top of the LU? Thank you for any ideas how to get my olde girl back on the water.
 
M

Maxz695

Guest
Re: 1978 Mercury 1150 stuck in forward after replacing impeller

Find reverse. The prop locks in both directions, then turn one notch clockwise to Neutral. The prop spins freely in both directions. Turn one more notch clockwise This is foward and the prop locks in one direction and ratchets in the other direction. After you have check these are all correct shift from the F counterclockwise to neutral set your shifter to neutral and reinstall the outdrive. I,ve heard at least 4 times this week where they overshoot the F gear and have this problem. follow the steps given and you should have it aligned. Now when in Neutral before installing check the camlock on the shifter shaft and the position is as follow" Neutral is the mid lift of the cam facing the front of the LU center <-^-> While still in neutral ( Rev The high point of the cam should be to the left of the front center of the LU (R<--^)and F (low side of the cam) should be to the right of the forward center of the LU (F^->) ^ = Neutral center of LU. Hope this helps
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,036
Re: 1978 Mercury 1150 stuck in forward after replacing impeller

Gently but firmly turn the shift shaft CCW. You will likely need to use a cresent wrench on the base of the shift shaft to make it turn. It will click and stay in neutral. Then set control to neutral and reinstall gearcase.
 
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