Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

[JoLin]

I was changing the shift cable and I think I adjusted it wrong at first. Now, the gearcase won't come out of neutral. I've disconnected the cable from the motor and tried to manipulate the shift arm back and forth by manually spinning the prop, and by starting the motor. No go. Won't go into forward or reverse.

Any ideas?

 

[ezeke]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Take the spark plugs out so that you can easily turn the flywheel clockwise while you try to shift manually.

Have you had the lower unit off?

 

[JoLin]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

No, Ezeke, have not had the lower unit off. I think I caused this problem. Cable wasn't adjusted right first time and putting it through the gears with the remote control might have forced the gearbox to go "too far" in either forward or reverse. I already tried to put it into gear with the motor running. No go- so I don't think that turning the flywheel manually will do it either

 

[ezeke]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Is it hard to move the shift lever or easy?

 

[JoLin]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Shift lever at the motor is very hard to move. I can only move it a fraction of an inch either forward or back.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

xxx

 

[JoLin]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

wilde1j,

huh?

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Brain fart ...

 

[JoLin]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

What I know so far...

By detaching the shift rod from the linkage, I've determined that the linkage is fine- it's the shift rod that won't move up or down.

I've now pulled the lower unit. I still can't move the shift up or down manually. It's frozen solid.

The shift rod travels down into the LU, through a cover with 6 bolts attaching it to the LU. I'm going to pull the cover off. Can anyone tell me what to look for?

 

[captk]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Do you have both cables disconnected at the motor end ? Try to move the shift lever on the engine while turning the prop. with all the cables off. if the lever wont move look for a mechanical stop. IE loose screw or clamp stopping the linkage from moving

 

[ezeke]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

Below the shift rod cover the shift rod is threaded into the linkage where it controls the movement of the dog which is connected to the propeller shaft. Two things are known: the engine is capable of running and the propeller shaft is free.

Normally the gears are constantly in motion whenever the engine is running. The dog runs between the reverse gear and forward gear and rests in neutral in between them. Turning the drive shaft aligns the gear with the dog and allows for the connection between the propeller shaft and the gear.

Generally, you can't do much from the shift rod end except to be absolutely sure that the shift rod is set to exactly the right length when you replace the gearcase.

Putting a healthy amount of downward or upward force on the shift rod while turning the driveshaft will generally cause the dog to move into the gears.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Gearcase Stuck in Neutral

I got it!

With the LU off, I removed those cover bolts and managed to pry the cover up the shift rod a couple of inches. What did I see? My LU lube and nothing else. Duh! I clould tell, though, that even if I emptied it and cleaned everything out, it was doubtful I'd be able to see or reach anything fixable by me.

Well, I was either going to free it up or have to take it for service anyway, so I wrapped a rag around the shift rod, grabbed it, and starting twisting a little from side to side and pushing up and down on the rod. All of a sudden it started moving, and I could feel the detents as it went up and down. I don't know what the heck I did to it originally, but I must've jammed something up pretty good.

I put the LU back on, connected everything back up, and it's now moving fine. The new cable is in and the gearbox is shifting F-N-R with no issues. I ran the motor and shifted through the gears to make sure, so hopefully I'm good to go now on that issue.