1998 Force 120 Stuck in gear after impeller change

Hi guys, new to the forum. After changing the impeller on my 1998 Force 120 OB it is now stuck in forward gear. I followed the service manual and put it in forward gear before removing the LU. I have tried rotating the spline on the lower shift rod and reassembling with no luck. I also tried rotating the spline with the LU off and no matter what position it is in the prop shaft will only rotate clockwise with an audible clicking sound. Upon doing a search of the forum it appears to be a common problem but unfortunately none of the posts I found listed a solution. Any help would be much appreciated.

Re: 1998 Force 120 Stuck in gear after impeller change

you may have to re-adjust the shift rod. I had to do the same thing to my force.

Re: 1998 Force 120 Stuck in gear after impeller change

Not really sure how to adjust it other than rotating the spline. With LU off and adjusting the spline shouldn't I be able to shift it maunually in and out of gear? Thanks.

Re: 1998 Force 120 Stuck in gear after impeller change

I have a similar problem after changing the impellar. When I push the button on the throttle to rev the engine in neutral it shifts into forward. I'm getting no result from pushing in the button to keep it in neutral. Not a huge problem but can be a bit aggravating when starting.

Just wanted to take an opportunity to thank everyone on here for suggestions and comments. I had been having trouble with a "slow" starter. Several people suggested cleaning all the contacts. Even though I had a new battery and what I thought were clean contacts on the cable I followed the suggestion. I got out my Dremel and cleaned all the contacts until they were shiny clean and my problem went away. Many thanks.

Re: 1998 Force 120 Stuck in gear after impeller change

You need to take upper nut off assembly then turn off the adjuster rod, see if you can manual push down on lower rod and spin the prop by hand. You should beable to find rev,neutral,forward. When you have upper rod out leave top nut/bolt off. Try and get middle 2 inch threaded thingy started on top section two turns and start and thread it into bottom. Use wrench get things going. I guessed perfect on my rig found neutral,forward and reverse. If you think about it manual put lower case in any position netural,rev,forward leave top nut off while spinning down on 2 inch threaded part. Make sure you put steering wheel area shifter into neutral would work. Now while spinning down on part once the top securing nut lines up with both in neutral your very close to being perfect. So shifter into neutral or your choice and lower unit into your choice I used neutral because that might be easier for everyone. For comander 3000 controls you can pop off push button thingy maybe a spring is missing.