[jfmil355]

I took my boat out for the first time last weekend and it ran great. When I put the drive in reverse it sounded like the gears were not engaging fully. It worked fine hours earlier. What could be the cause of this? Could low oil/dirty oil in my lower unit be causing this? Please help! What should I check?

[F_R]

Originally Posted by jfmil355

I took my boat out for the first time last weekend and it ran great. When I put the drive in reverse it sounded like the gears were not engaging fully. It worked fine hours earlier. What could be the cause of this? Could low oil/dirty oil in my lower unit be causing this? Please help! What should I check?

Yes, it certainly can be low/dirty/wrong oil. And/or water in the oil. It can also be low voltage to the shift solenoids (bad shift switch is all too common). It can also be worn out oil pump in the lower unit, however that is unlikely since it was working earlier.....unless that is combined with very slow idle.

[jfmil355]

Idle was kinda low. Will low idle cause this problem?

[Daviet]

A low idle can cause shift problems on an electric shift. FR makes good points about water in lower unit as well as voltage problems. Time to break out the factory manual and do some troubleshooting.

[jfmil355]

I just changed the oil in my lower unit. It was dirty and the level kinda low. we'll see this weekend, I'm gonna take it to Lake Piru.

[Daviet]

You did use lower unit oil for ELECTRIC shift lower unit didn't you? Just thinkin.

[jfmil355]

Yes I did. Thanks.