1978 mercury 1150 wont go in reverse

Well here goes. I have a 1978 Mercury 6 cyl. that worked OK last year. Had a time where it wouldn't quite go in reverse, but I adjusted linkage and got it going again. Here's the problem. removed engine from boat to make some boat repairs, removed cables etc. Put all back on. Replaced impeller, and reinstalled, no problems re-installing. Ran boat with muffs and shifted ok. Now comes the odd part, for me anyhow. Put the boat in the water & reverse grinds, but wont lock in. Adjusted linkage to no avail. Any help, insight would be greatly appreciated. Again, Forward- Good , Neutral - Good....Reverse gr & no lock. Manually the prop goes through the correct cycles out of the water not running, I'm going crazy trying to figure this out.

Re: 1978 mercury 1150 wont go in reverse

You did not remove the gearcase, right? Are you sure you have the cables connected properly? Remember when you move the throttle handle from neutral to forward, the shift cable moves first. it is worth checking.

Re: 1978 mercury 1150 wont go in reverse

I removed the lower unit to change out the impeller. Cables are not reversed. Shift moves first. Took lower unit off again last night. Tried best to realign the reverse lock hub in correct location. Reassembled, and tried again with muffs on. Seemed to shift fine, but then again being submursed might change that????

Re: 1978 mercury 1150 wont go in reverse

Easiest thing to do is to set control and gearcase in neutral and then install gearcase. That ensures that cable will most likely have enough mvement to fully engage forward and reverse.