[AlexeiVT]

Hello and thank you again for your knowledge/input.I have a '64 Evinrude BIG TWIN 40 hp, w/ a Simplex manual shifter.The problem I am currently experiencing, is that I cannot properly work the shifting unit once the motor is running. (The hand lever, will not move the lever on the motor).W/ the motor not running, I can very easily shift through all gears R, N, F.When I start the motor in N, I can easily enough shift into F while things are running...but that's where functionality ends...I cannot get it to go back into N once running...(at least not the way I'd like to...if I rev it up a bit, then idle till just before stopping, I can shift into N just before the motor is about to stall out, then I can give it some throttle w/ those last few sparks, and the engine fires up again, and voila, I'm idling in N)...after that, going into F is no problem (but I'd like to just be able to idle, and shift as I please, while using the Simplex).I know it's not pretty, but it's better than hopping over the seats after having to manually shift on the motor (as I was previously doing).Now, also a bit of history...the boat w/ it's decrepit components, at one time, about 3 years ago, did shift just fine when running. But on the second outing, the shift cable housing completely split, and that was the end of cable actuated shifting, and I went to full manual "hand-on-motor" shifting.Recently, I bought a new throttle cable, and was able to take the leftovers from the old throttle cable (drill out the ferrules of the old wire cable housing, cut to length, and crimp the ends back on...and believe it or not, as far a sliding cable, it seems to work just fine).But...is there something more than that to it...I've heard that adjustment of the shift cable is a little more finicky than that of the throttle...but how so, what to adjust (I just hooked it up, turned the barrel on the motor to take up any excess once snapped in, and figured that was good enough)...I must be missing something.I'll admit, I haven't generously greased the linkage in the motor (which I'll do tomorrow)...but, I'm thinking, that linkage is likely no less lubricated than it was 3 years ago, when it DID shift properly (the boats only been out a handful of times, is stored covered, so there's not really been too much going on environmentally to change what friction there was from when it once worked, till now, nevertheless, I'll grease things).Just confused on how to set things...what really changes (other than I guess there being a load on the system components) between when the motor is NOT running, and when the motor IS running, that would permit the full range of shifter and shift lever movement in the former state, and completely prevent it in the second.Thanks again in advance for any suggestions...you've all already made my endeavors into outboarding a little less scary, and whole lot more successful.

[CATransplant]

You're probably encountering the shift/throttle lockout. If the engine is idling to fast, you can't shift. It's a safety feature built into the engine and controls.The answer is to get your engine idling better, and only shift at idle. Trying to force a shift at too high an engine speed will just break something in the controls.