So I finally got my 1972 Starcraft out for this year's shakedown this morning and things went well until I got back to the boat launch. I have always had a problem with the motor stalling when landing the boat, but that's for another thread. My bigger problem was that the reverse seemed to give out with lots of grinding - i could go forward fine but not in reverse. I just did a dry land test and the prop does spin in reverse but my guess is that's only because its not under load and it didn't magically fix itself. Thoughts and suggestions?[/QUOTE
I had the exact same problem with my 1977 85 HP Mercury outboard. It was on a pontoon boat so I tried doing the cable adjustment which lasted only a little while. Then after a couple seasons of not having reverse, or intermittant reverse, I lost the forward gear too.
I had the lower unit inspected and they told me that the threads in the lower housing had been "Pushed". They said there was not way to fix that other than a replacement housing. I'm not 100% convinced that is true, but I have not found a better solution...I found one online for about $ 500 plus shipping, but don't want to put that much money into a 1977 motor!
Currently I"m having another shop with an old-timer mechanic check it out for me.
Alan