Mercury won't go into gear

I have a Mercury 115, ELPTO saltwater 2002 model. The throttle was not staying at a given speed. Now it will not shift into forward or reverse. The button will not pop out. The cables look good and can be manually moved. What can be the problem?

Re: Mercury won't go into gear

Sounds like the Throttle-Only mechanism is stuck. Place the lever in Throttle-Only Forward and you can pop the button out with a tiny screwdriver. Once out, spray into the quarter inch hole the button stem fits into with WD-40 to loosen it up, and then some white lithium grease once it's freed. Work the lever back and forth and it should free the mechanism eventually. You can get spray white lithium grease most anyplace that sells automotive stuff. It's commonly used for car door hinges and locks.

That's going to be a separate problem from the throttle coming down by itself. Someplace there will be a knob or screw to adjust the throttle friction. It might not be blatently obvious, but it should be accessible without much difficulty.

Re: Mercury won't go into gear

i have that problem in reverse i can not get it into throttle the botton will not push in .........ill try that.....

Re: Mercury won't go into gear

I tried that working it out but the button will not remain out. It appears to have no tension as though it's loose in place?