mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

hello everybody.. wondering if somebody might have some insight for me here on a recent problem ive had.. <br /><br />took my boat out couple weeks ago.. started running a little hot so as i was slowly getting it back to the ramp when the engine died on me.. i could get it restarted fine.. but then found i couldnt get it to engage into forward.. reverse worked.. it would engage into reverse and stall when it did most of the time.. but would not engage forward at all... it just revved the engine like it was in neutral.. then i finally got into into forward and i could not throttle up too far without it sputtering and almost stalling.. and there was a somewhat unpleasant vibration.. <br /><br />so had that a couple other minor problems.. took it into the shop.. guy at shop said he did a tune up replaced a water hose.. fixed a bad ground on the trim tabs.. and ran the engine for an hour.. had no overheating and said he had no problem with it not engaging in forward or reverse.. he was just running it on a hose on the trailer.. <br /><br />fine i picked it up.. launched it yesterday.. and once again could not get it to engage in forward.. engine sounded great.. started right up.. idled perfect.. would go into reverse no problem... no before i started it i did run the throttle up and down a few times.. this may have been stupid.. but i figured.. i could easily start and stop out there like 5 times in the day.. so let me go from idle to full throttle a few times just sitting here and see what happens when i start it.. so i did it like 8 times from idle to full without the engine on.. to be clear this was without the neutral button pushed in.. so this would be taking it from idle to full throttle like 10 times as if it was in gear.. <br /><br />just would not engage into forward.. it is pretty obvious when the thing gets into gear and it was just doing nothing forward at all.. <br /><br />so what is going on here? Why would it be fine at the yard on the trailer and not in the water? should i not have pumped it a few times before starting? in any event i am going to try to run it on the trailer myself tomorrow and see if i can recreate this out of the water.. <br /><br />any help you may have would be greatly appreciated.. anybody ever had this problem/heard of this problem before? <br /><br />Thanks <br />Rob

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

Save your time and replace your lower shift cable. The problem is that out of the water you are not operating under load.....J Oh, and welcome to iboats...

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

Search 'mercstuff.com',in this forum & you will find tons of information on this subject....J

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

thanks.. figured as much.. pissed the guy just didnt fix it when i took it in the first time.. but i guess he was just trying to save me some money.. could have been worse..<br /><br />thanks for the feedback.. I read a ton of posts on the cables and found a lot of similar things.. but just wanted to check to make sure my story didnt sound like a bigger problem..<br /><br />thanks for the quick reply.. hope to be able to offer some of my own advice someday..

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

Wanted to get your thoughts on what the service guy at the yard told me.<br /> <br />Service guy at the yard said he took a look and manually shifted at the shift plate and said it engages but the prop is just freewheeling? <br /><br />He claims the transmission is working but now claims there is an issue in the drive? What could this be and how big of a bill can i expect? <br /><br />Are there any simple explanations for this? <br /><br />Thanks <br />Rob

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

My bad for not asking earlier; Exactly what year/drive are we talking about? I assumed Alpha when I saw 260 stern drive. If it is, I would put the drive in foreward and look at where the shift shaft(drive side), engages the coupler(gimbal ring side). It should face directly foreward. Is there play here? Turn the shift shaft clock-wise, and the prop shaft ccw and it should engage. If it will not then I would pull the drive off and perform the same test. If it still wont, then you do have gear case troubles...... J

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

It is a 1982. <br /><br />The boat is at the shop now so I do not have any ability to get in there and look at anything myself anymore. <br /><br />Would be helpful to know the right questions to ask the service guy that does the work thou.<br /><br />Thanks<br />Rob

Re: mercruiser 260 stern drive shift problem

Unfortunatly, the best you can do now is to ask him what he fixed, and get your impeller changed while you are at it......J