1985 mariner 25 stuck in gear after impeller replacement.

[jaypeek77]

Just got done with replacing the impeller in my 1985 mariner 25 and upon an attempt at reinstalling the L/U I quickly found the shift rod in the lower unit has become jammed (stuck in forward). I am completely puzzled as to how and why this has happened as the engine has operated perfectly up until now. Any help from the experts out there as to how to fix this issue and perhaps an idea of what I did wrong would be fantastic. Thank you!

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: 1985 mariner 25 stuck in gear after impeller replacement.

Someone, while the l/u was out, turned the shift rod or moved the remote. Drop it back down and put the l/u and the remote in neutral then put it back on.

 

[jaypeek77]

Re: 1985 mariner 25 stuck in gear after impeller replacement.

the shift rod in the l/u is completely locked, I cant moved it at all, do you think I pulled something out of place while removing it?

 

[minuteman62-64]

Re: 1985 mariner 25 stuck in gear after impeller replacement.

Have you tried (with LU dropped) turning the drive shaft clockwise while pushing the shift shaft down?

 

[jaypeek77]

Re: 1985 mariner 25 stuck in gear after impeller replacement.

Ive tried that and a myriad of other techniques to get the shift rod to work again to no avail. the lower unit seems fairly simply which leads me to believe itll need to be disassembled to be fixed.