1985 mercruiser 120/140 will go forward. will not go reverse

[13adluck]

Boat will only go forward. will not go reverse. when you put it in forward you hear it lock in a prop spins. when you try reverse it only throttle up will not lock into reverse and prop will not spin. Anyone know what might cause this?

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: 1985 mercruiser 120/140 will go forward. will not go reverse

lower shift cable/shift assembly/poor adjustment.Pull the drive to isolate the problem.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1985 mercruiser 120/140 will go forward. will not go reverse

Shift cable is probably bad.J

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: 1985 mercruiser 120/140 will go forward. will not go reverse

Here is a diagram to help adjust the lower shift cable if that is just out of adjustment. I don't believe that they loose adjustment on their own though unless someone messed with it. Checking it for adjustment is an easy thing to check off before you get deeper into it.
Click the image to enlarge.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: 1985 mercruiser 120/140 will go forward. will not go reverse

I don't believe that they loose adjustment on their own though unless someone messed with it.QUOTE]

they do stretch though.

also the actuator on the end in the outdrive has broken on me before too.