1986 Mercury Inline 6 outboard intermittent or no reverse

[ab59]

my 1986 90 hp TOP does not want to shift into reverse. Oddly enough it will go into reverse on the muffs and once at the ramp when I first got the motor running. Yesterday when I thought I was going to do a little fishing on my maiden voyage, I could not get the motor to grab reverse. I tried adjusting the shift cable last night with no luck. With the shift cable disconnected, I can manually shift the motor into reverse but the prop only locks turning it to the left as standing at the transom looking towards the bow of the boat. Forward and reverse lock the same way? I do have another lower or two that are unproven that I may install after I put an impeller in one of them and see what happens. Is forward and reverse supposed to lock in the same direction? Seems like forward should lock one direction and reverse the other but I really do not know. The PO of the motor said that he had trouble getting it to shift out of reverse sometimes. If this can just be adjusted out and made right by adjustment then I would much rather do that than swap lowers. However, I'm wondering if I should just swap them out because of what the PO said about reverse. I dunno. What do you that know think? thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

is it the motor or the control cables?

 

[ab59]

Thanks for the reply. The cables seem to be fine. I don't see any damage at the barrels, and no sign of fraying or kinks. I have some others somewhere around here but they are used as well but in a pinch, I guess they may tell me if the original cable is damaged. There isn't any difference between a shift cable and a throttle cable is there?

 

[racerone]

In forward you can turn the prop clockwise and it will go click, click, click.-----It will lock if you turn counterclockwise.-----Was lower unit off for water pump work.----If so , did you have control in forward and was lower unit in forward ?

 

[Chris1956]

Normally the prop will ratchet in forward as Racer has stated. Reverse is a full lock in both directions.

The correct way to adjust the shift cable is as follows: Remove throttle and shift cables. Push shift slide to approximate center of it's track. The prop should spin both ways in neutral. Now set control to neutral. Adjust shift barrel to fit shift slider. without moving the slider. Install throttle cable, adjusted to push the throttle closed, with some preload.

You do have the cables installed correctly, right? Shift cable moves first when throttle moves into gear.

 

[ab59]

Thanks for your replies--- I tried to adjust the cable one last time and could not get it to lock up in reverse. When I had the cable loose, I shifted it into reverse by hand while I kicked the prop and still could not get it to lock up. In Neutral, I pulled the lower and installed the most similar lower that I have after installing a new impeller. After a couple of hours of wrestling, I got the lower mated up and she now locks up in reverse and shifts smoothly in forward, neutral, and reverse. We are in the middle of some bad Thunder Storms here so can't test it good for a day or two. This is a motor that I have no previous knowledge of other than I was given some paperwork by the PO that showed a new Stator, Trigger, and a couple of other things. I don't know if someone screwed up replacing an impeller although that thought had crossed my mind. I will check out the lower that I pulled when these storms pass and see if I can get it to lock up in reverse. Thanks for the help, I'll be back to pester everyone about how to replace the seals in my trim and tilt soon. lol. thanks again---