90 Mercury Black Max 135 Slips Out Of Gear?

434 Phitter

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May 26, 2013
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First of all...Hello!

I'm newly registered but have found great advice here previously.

I?m getting ready to trouble shoot the problem with my motor and would appreciate any suggestions offered.

The problem occurred last year on my final outing before the harsh Wisconsin winter set in. The motor was running great as usual then on a turn the engine whined and the prop stopped spinning as if I had shifted it to neutral (I didn?t). I immediately backed off the throttle and shifted to neutral. With the boat now stopped, I shifted back into forward and it re-engaged and ran fine for another half-hour. Then it slipped out again and wouldn?t re-engage leaving me dead in the water until a ?saint? towed me in.

My first thought was perhaps I hit something in the river and damaged the hub. I took the prop off and this doesn?t appear to be the case as the hub looks fine and no shredded rubber present. The problem doesn?t appear to be in the shift/throttle cable or box as they function properly and the shift shaft moves as it should. This leaves me with a lower unit problem I?m guessing.

I?m a decent mechanic but have little experience with outboards. I bought a Seloc manual and the lower unit removal appears easy but there isn?t much info in the manual past removal. I?m hoping the problem becomes evident when I drop the lower unit but if it doesn?t I?ll need guidance.

Does this sound like a common failure?

Thanks in advance for your comments

Steve
 

Laddies

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Sep 10, 2004
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12,218
Re: 90 Mercury Black Max 135 Slips Out Of Gear?

Normally when a unit jumps gear it is accompanied by a loud bang as if you hit something, so take the prop off and mark the back then water test it and recheck the marks.
 

434 Phitter

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Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
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Re: 90 Mercury Black Max 135 Slips Out Of Gear?

Normally when a unit jumps gear it is accompanied by a loud bang as if you hit something, so take the prop off and mark the back then water test it and recheck the marks.

Thanks for the reply Laddies...

I'll give it a shot and I'm hoping the problem is just the hub although it doesn't appear to be by visual inspection but no telling what it might look like internally at the shaft connection.

If I put the unit in gear (engine off) would I be able to tell if there is slippage by attempting to turn the prop manually? Or is this something that might require the higher rpms of a motor in operation?

BTW- There was never any loud pop or bang before the problem raised its ugly head...the prop just quit spinning and it seemed like it just wasn't going into gear.
 

Laddies

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Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
12,218
Re: 90 Mercury Black Max 135 Slips Out Of Gear?

I don't believe you can put anywhere close to the torque to the prop that the engine does, there is always a slight chance of driveshaft damage but the engine will over heat as the w/pump don't work
 
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