Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

I have good question that may stump even the best of you. I have a 96 Force 75 hp outboard that has been giving me a ton of trouble. The other day out on the lake my power trim failed. It wouldnt go up, but the strange part was that it would go down. If i pressed the up button I would just hear a click but when i pushed the down button everything seemed to work fine. After standing around at the launch ramp trying to figgure out how i was going to get my boat back home with the skeg 4 inches from the ground it ramdomly started to work again. I took the boat back out a few days later and the trim problem seemed to be fixed but when I went to start up the boat (in nuteral) it would fire up and be in gear. I didn't think it was possible for that to happen! So I went to put the boat in reverse and reverse ened up being "nuteral". So now I have no reverse and if I want to be in nuteral i have to put the throttle in the reverse position. Then when I went to put the the boat in forward the throttle seemed very stiff and hard to move, like there was a lot of resistance in the cables. The boat ran fine though and achieved top speed like normal, its just that all the controls are screwed up. And then when back on the trailer I had the same trim issuses again, it would go down but not up. Finally after messing around with it for a bit it worked. Any ideas anybody?

Thanks

Brian

Re: Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

Speaking generically the trim issue has nothing to do with the shift problem.Most likely the the up solenoid has started to fail.The click you here is the solenoid but probably the contact inside is failing to activate the motor.Could be other problems but solenoid failure is pretty common.
Just a guess but I'm thinking some sort of failure at the control lever or in the cables.is causing the strange shift problems.I'm sure someone will be along with more specific info.

Re: Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

For a quick fix on the trim, swap relays and it should work the opposite. Say if it's down and you can't get it up, do the swap. You'll go up but not go down. But at least you'll have it up for trailering. Replace both relays. If one is going bad, the other won't be far behind.

Regarding the shifting issue, check your gearlube. Make sure you don't remove the phillips head pivot pin. If you ever have by mistake, that's what could be causing your shifting problem.

Re: Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

Has the lower unit been removed recently?
Was the shift shaft re-adjusted after the unit was installed?
And, as Willy said, was the phillips head screw accidentally removed from the gearcase?


The neutral interlock switch is in the control unit on your boat.
If the shift handle is in the neutral position, the switch is activated, and allows the engine to be started.
This seems to be working, so for now, lets look elsewhere to find the problem.

There are 2 likely areas to check.
The first is the shift cable.
Look for splits or cracks that may allow the cable to bind, or to protrude, causing the cable to not fully move the required distance at the other end.

The second place I would check, is on the starboard side of the motor, halfway down the side.
Look about 10 inches to the left of the trim motor, on the motor midsection.
There is a long threaded rod that starts up inside the motor cover, and extends down, disappearing into the midsection, and ends up inside the lower unit.
This is the shift shaft.
There is a top half and a lower half, that are connected using a large nut, about 1.5" long, and a small nut that locks it in place.

These 2 nuts not only connect the shafts, but are also used to adjust the position of the shaft, which determines if the gearcase is in forward, neutral, or reverse.

Check to see if these 2 nuts have worked themselves loose.

If these nuts are not loose, re-examine the cables along their entire length.

Re: Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

I had a similiar problems with my trim. Turned out the wires from the remote control to the unit, and from the unit to the motor / relays.
Regarding the shifting issues, the last two posts covered it, like they said check the connection nut on the shift rod, cables, possible shift pivot pin in the gear case. Another possible cause is the cables connection to the shifting aparatus in the engine compartment. Have you or anyone else had the shift cable off recently? If so, it is possible the adjustment nut on the cable is not set appropriately. If you recently replaced the cables, the nut has to be adjusted for the engine.

Re: Able to start in gear, Reverse is neutral, nuteral is forward

sorry, I forgot to finish my trim wire comment. The wires were fraid, and as the engine moved up down, or turned the wires lost connection.