[ona mission]

hi, im the newest member. for a minute anyway. My outboard developed a "hiccup" . When in forward at any speed, it sounds like it slips, for a split second, into neutral. Replaced rubber core prop "was pretty beat up anyway" no change. I noticed the shift control would creep back to neutral if not held in place. The last time it hiccuped was at full throttle and it popped out of gear. It would not go back into forward but luckily we were able to limp back in reverse. Now it is stuck in reverse. shifting at engine or with control cable makes no difference. I,m hoping its a simple pin or easy to get to inner linkage. any ideas on where to look? thanks

[fireman57]

I believe that you have an inspection plate on the leg of that moter that you remove with 2 screws. It is about 3 inches by 2.5 or something like that. Inside there is a brass coupling that holds your upper shift rod to your lower shift rod by a bolt. I'm betting that they have become disconnected. You may have to somehow get in there with a drift pin and pull up on the lower rod to get it back in the coupler. Make sure that both ends are seated in the brass coupler correctly and tighten the bolt.

[ona mission]

thanks for the tip, all was well at inspection plate. now i know it is below that anyway. i think the lower unit might be beyond what i want to dig into.