My outboard took a pretty bad fall which resulted in the shift lever snapping off. Originally i was worried that the motor its self may have suffered some other internal damage that i could not see. But lucky for me the motor started after just a few pulls and seemed to idle fine. because the lever snapped, the neutral start plunger would not lift when i attempted to start the engine so i had to do it by hand.
Now I would like to make sure the motor still runs fine under load before making the investment to put a new shift lever on there. The shift lever snapped off right where the plastic piece emerges from the inside of the outboard. So i am not able to get a hold of anything with a pair of vice grips. I was able to put the motor into forward gear by removing the water inlet screen and manually pushing the shift rod while turning the prop. My question for now is: Is it ok to start the motor while in forward gear just for a test run? I have read other posts that say this is dangerous, so i would not continue to do this. Just as a one time test. Is it dangerous just because you could lurch forward unexpectedly?
Now I would like to make sure the motor still runs fine under load before making the investment to put a new shift lever on there. The shift lever snapped off right where the plastic piece emerges from the inside of the outboard. So i am not able to get a hold of anything with a pair of vice grips. I was able to put the motor into forward gear by removing the water inlet screen and manually pushing the shift rod while turning the prop. My question for now is: Is it ok to start the motor while in forward gear just for a test run? I have read other posts that say this is dangerous, so i would not continue to do this. Just as a one time test. Is it dangerous just because you could lurch forward unexpectedly?
