mercruiser outdrive shift problem

[wdknox]

I need help, I have a mercruiser type 1 (898) outdrive. At first it was hard to shift, then today when I was trying to get it out of forward something broke. Now if I turn the motor off it goes back to neutral. But if the motor is running it will not come out of forward. and the shift lever moves more freely, like it did before I started having problems getting it in and out of gear.

 

[trevorcday]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

Does it **** into gear normally? With the engine running and the drive stuck in forward, can you move the shift lever? What about reverse?<br /><br />There are a whole bunch of parts between the shift lever and the drive that make the shifting happen. The most common problem is the cable that goes through the transom to the drive but there is no end of ways these things can screw up.

 

[trevorcday]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

Sorry the **** comes up automatically if you forget the f in shift. Try it.

 

[daveswaves]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

I agree with MrMerc, sounds like shift cable. They can fray and start to hang up which may explain why you had shifting difficulty at first. If the cable is now broken that would explain the "easy motion" you now have. Not sure why it would go into neutral when you kill the engine, perhaps the cable broke when the shift dog has the gear almost in or out of forward. You should be able to see the shift cable moving a lever {inside the boat at the stern just behind the engine} if it does not move then the cable could be broken between the helm and the stern. You don,t say whether the throttle responds or not. If the lever is moving then the cable between the lever and the stern drive may be the problem. Adjustment can also do strange things. Adjustment procedure will be in your manual. Hope this helps

 

[wdknox]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

O K here is what happens, I did a little reading in a manual. I think the shift cable did break. The frayed cable might explain why it became so difficult to shift. I did check the cable between the helm and the stern and it is O K. When I would turn the motor off and put the throttle in the neutral position to start the motor the outdrive would also be in neutral, after I started the motor and put it in forward I could move the throttle/shift lever to neutral and reverse position with no problem, but the drive would stay in forward. Is there any thing else that would cause it to be hard to shift. And how hard is it to change a shift cable, I am a pretty good backyard mechanic, but not experienced in mercruiser. And thank you very much for the replies.

 

[wdknox]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

Just a note. When I would shift the drive before something broke it was real hard to get to neutral. It was real stiff and I would go from forward to reverse and back again a couple of times before I would finally get if into neutral.

 

[wdknox]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

Here's what I found. The lower shift cable had pulled loose from the plastic end barrel set screw located behind the motor. The reason it was so hard to shift in the first place was the shift interrupter switch was not working. Just had put the cable back into the barrel and tighten the set screw for the cable fix and bend the arm on the shift interrupter switch to get it to work. I found this info about the shift interrupter switch on (sterndrives.com) when I was looking for info on how to change the shift cable. I lucked out here cause it didn't cost me anything to fix. I was sure I would have to spend some major bucks to have it fixed at a shop.

 

[daveswaves]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

Glad you got it worked out.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: mercruiser outdrive shift problem

I am sorry I was out of town. I had the same thing happen to me when I installed a motor. That was the first thing I thought off. sorry<br /> The board looks diffrent...