1963 Evinrude 28 stuck in neutral

[Dexter1972]

So I bought a 1963 28hp cheap. Looked pretty clean but had no spark. Did the coils, condensers and points, and even with no carb rebuild, which is coming, I got it running fairly well. Problem is it is stuck firmly in neutral. I've tried moving the prop, tried shifting it with motor running and moving the throttle down but still won't budge. I then removed the lower unit thinking it was something wrong there. The lower unit shift rod is moving correctly off the motor. And the shifter still wouldn't budge with no lower unit on it. At this point I'm lost as In a relative newbie especially on anything this old. When I wiggle the shifter with the lower unit off, I can hear the shift rod wiggle as well, like it wants to move. Any help would be greatly appreciated and probably save me from pulling out the last few hairs I have.

 

[racerone]

Put the motor in the slowest idle.

 

[racerone]

You did remove the propeller to check the drive pin ?

 

[F_R]

So I bought a 1963 28hp cheap. Looked pretty clean but had no spark. Did the coils, condensers and points, and even with no carb rebuild, which is coming, I got it running fairly well. Problem is it is stuck firmly in neutral. I've tried moving the prop, tried shifting it with motor running and moving the throttle down but still won't budge. I then removed the lower unit thinking it was something wrong there. The lower unit shift rod is moving correctly off the motor. And the shifter still wouldn't budge with no lower unit on it. At this point I'm lost as In a relative newbie especially on anything this old. When I wiggle the shifter with the lower unit off, I can hear the shift rod wiggle as well, like it wants to move. Any help would be greatly appreciated and probably save me from pulling out the last few hairs I have.

Very likely the inner shift rod clevis is rusted/corroded. Very common, especially if motor is use in salt water, but it happens in fresh water also. The exhaust and combustion byproducts blow right on it. Powerhead removal is required to repair it.

 

[Dexter1972]

You did remove the propeller to check the drive pin ?

Yes drive pin is good

 

[F_R]

Items 9 through 13 are the parts that I referred to in post#4

 

[Dexter1972]

Very likely the inner shift rod clevis is rusted/corroded. Very common, especially if motor is use in salt water, but it happens in fresh water also. The exhaust and combustion byproducts blow right on it. Powerhead removal is required to repair it.

I have to give you a huge shout out for putting me on the right line of thinking. As a hail Mary move and because I didn't feel real comfortable pulling the power head( and because I'm lazy if I'm being honest) I noticed there was a grease fitting on it.Also noticed any grease on the motor was hard as a rock. So I heated around the fitting with a heat gun and immediately put the grease gun to it. Had to really force the gun but pumped it until only new grease came out. Worked the lever a bit and it's now clicking in and out like a champ.Guess I got lucky. Guessing there was light corrosion and old hard grease causing the binding. Thanks again because never would have thought of corrosion under the power head.