65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Hi All,

So i bought this boat for my young family, I have had it going and it is idling very high to a point i was told by the guy to pull it down slightly.Also it will not go into forward but will reverve? Have booked it in to the boat shop but they are fully booked for a few weeks. Very new to boating so Any help would be really good!

Thank you!!!

1987ish 65 blueband Merc

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

The discription other than no fowards and a high idol is vague. Idol first off would have no effect on the shifting. You have 2 sperate prblems. What is it you mean by pull it down slightly? There are several things you can try to get the gears to shift before having to drop the LU. Dissconnect the shifter cable and try shifting it into fowards by hand. As for the hi idol check first to see the linkage to the trigger is held fast. Not cracked or fallen off. Check the carburetor butterlies to see if there closing fully. Just a few things you can look at for now

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

CrossCurrent50 said:

The discription other than no fowards and a high idol is vague. Idol first off would have no effect on the shifting. You have 2 sperate prblems. What is it you mean by pull it down slightly? There are several things you can try to get the gears to shift before having to drop the LU. Dissconnect the shifter cable and try shifting it into fowards by hand. As for the hi idol check first to see the linkage to the trigger is held fast. Not cracked or fallen off. Check the carburetor butterlies to see if there closing fully. Just a few things you can look at for now

Click to expand...

Hi thank you for the reply,

when it starts up in nautral it is reving very high and the guy told me to pull it down slightly into reverve. when i try and push it back up it just screams very and thats about it.

:grumpy::blue::blue:

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Just an opinion based on your description. But it sounds to me that the shifter and throttle cable are moving at the same time. The throttle cable should not move until the shifter cabe engages. Probable causes are the cables on the engine are reversed. Shifter cable to throtlle and throttle cable to shifter). I would remove the cables at the engine and then try shifting first to see that the cables are free and moving independantly and that there is no binding in the shifter. Pay attention to which cable moves first. This would be the shifter cable. Adjust and attach it to the shifter bracket on the engine. Then adjust and reattach the throttle cable. Also when you have the cables disconnected test the engine sliding bracket to see if the engine shifts gears without any binding of any sort. Post your results thanks

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Idle for one of those engines is about 650 rpm in F gear in the water which translates to just about 1000 rpm in N. If you have no tach, these speeds are similar to your automobile engine at idle. Let it (your auto) idle and then if you have a tach, speed it up to 1500 to 2000 rpms and listen to the noises which may give you an idea as to just how fast your OB engine is idling.

Single lever (throttle and shift combined) remote controls of the era had a (an additional smaller) lever on the top rear of the control box which was the fast idle and lifting it up as far as it would go, could produce some screaming (to you) rpms. Before shifting the lever must be all the way down which returns the engine to the idle rpms. If your fast idle isn't your problem, the idle set screw in the engine on the throttle linkage may be adjusted too fast. However you have to ask yourself why would it be? If you can't operate the equipment like that, how did the previous owner (PO)? Sometimes high idle is used because of engine malfunctions which prevent an engine from idling at the designed rpms....it would die (quit running). So a little history would help.

If your engine is screaming at you it is very difficult for the teeth on the pinion gear to engage in F gear and near impossible in R since mating is more of a tooth and slot rather than an overrun clutch configuration that is what F gear has. Linkage adjustment could also be a problem, but you have to ask again, what was the PO doing and how? History would help.

When you buy used equipment you have no idea as to what the privious owner knew, was capable of, or did. A manual helps to get you over the rough spots. We can only respond to the information made available to us.

Mark

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Texasmark said:

Idle for one of those engines is about 650 rpm in F gear in the water which translates to just about 1000 rpm in N. If you have no tach, these speeds are similar to your automobile engine at idle. Let it (your auto) idle and then if you have a tach, speed it up to 1500 to 2000 rpms and listen to the noises which may give you an idea as to just how fast your OB engine is idling.

Single lever (throttle and shift combined) remote controls of the era had a (an additional smaller) lever on the top rear of the control box which was the fast idle and lifting it up as far as it would go, could produce some screaming (to you) rpms. Before shifting the lever must be all the way down which returns the engine to the idle rpms. If your fast idle isn't your problem, the idle set screw in the engine on the throttle linkage may be adjusted too fast. However you have to ask yourself why would it be? If you can't operate the equipment like that, how did the previous owner (PO)? Sometimes high idle is used because of engine malfunctions which prevent an engine from idling at the designed rpms....it would die (quit running). So a little history would help.

If your engine is screaming at you it is very difficult for the teeth on the pinion gear to engage in F gear and near impossible in R since mating is more of a tooth and slot rather than an overrun clutch configuration that is what F gear has. Linkage adjustment could also be a problem, but you have to ask again, what was the PO doing and how? History would help.

When you buy used equipment you have no idea as to what the privious owner knew, was capable of, or did. A manual helps to get you over the rough spots. We can only respond to the information made available to us.

Mark

Click to expand...

Hi All,

So been out working out on it today. Idle seems to be good now after adjusting the linkage. still not going to into F but will go into R not sure what else to try?

thanks

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

I think you need to start at the basics. You say it is a 1987 but that is questionable.

What is the engine s/n?

Gerry

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

S/n is 4138488

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

That s/n comes up as:

65 650 3-cyl 4136685 4382056 1975 USA

From here:

Mercury 2-takt, 3-cyl, 60 - 90 hp, produktions?r, modellguide

Can you confirm that yours is a three cylinder?

If so, Parts Listing:

MERC 650 (3 CYLINDER) - Mercury, Mercruiser, Force, etc. Parts Lookup

Service Manual P/N: 90-75512

Pretty good price here:

1975 1976 1977 1978 Mercury Outboard All Models Service Repair Shop Manual | eBay

Or in the interim, here is a link to the condensed version of the Clymer manual. Download it soonest to your computer as the link is short lived.

Small Engine Repair Reference Center Home: MERCURY - MERCURY THREE-CYLINDER MODELS.

Do you know if your engine has Power Tilt/Trim?

Gerry

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Hi there,

yes it is 3 cylinder, and has a power trim motor but but has not been hooked up...

Re: 65HP Merc idling to high and wont go into gear.

Okaye. Now we are after the shifter only (I guess). Disconnect the linkage at the engine. Manually move the shift arm (to which the shift linkage was connected, to the N position. Spin the prop in both directions where it should spin freely.

Carefully push the shift arm to the F position and as you do, wiggle the prop back and forth so that you can tell when the gears start to mesh. Mentally note the position and continue on with the shift lever till it will not move any farther. Grasp the prop again and attempt to turn it in both directions. In the CCW direction, it should resist to the point where you can stand on the prop blade and move the whole engine (crankshaft and all). Rotating in the CW direction yields a clicking sound and no powerhead movement. This is the overrun clutch working and if your engine responds to both directions as I said, your problem is your shift linkage from your control is out of adjustment.

If so, return the engine shift arm to the N position and wiggle it to ensure you are in the center of the N detent. Place the remote control shift/throttle lever in N and wiggle it to ensure it too is centered. Lay the hole in the end of your shift cable over the stud in your shift arm and look back up the cable to where the outer cable is terminated in a threaded brass area and see where your barrel is with respect to the slot it is supposed to fit into (in the engine).

I am expecting that in the current configuration, the barrel is not lined up with the slot (causing your problem). Spin the barrel up/down the threads till it lines up and install the cable ensuring both ends are locked in place.

Go through the shifting pattern you went through initially, but this time move the remote shift lever. If you get the same results, you are good to go. If not, you may have to drop the lower unit to line up the shift arm in the engine, to the shift cam in the LU. But then again, why are you having to go this far? What was the PO doing?

HTH,
Mark