3.0 130 hp i/o mercruiser

[KLAW]

I've got a 3.0 130 hp i/o mercruiser. I've had her out on the water maybe for a total of 8 hrs. Bought about 2 months ago. She ran great. Yesterday, while on the water, we were cruising at full throttle for about ten minutes. I put her in neutral fairly quickly to slow down / stop. Went to engage again and now propeller wont turn in forward or backward. It turns freely along w the shaft but it won't engage when I throttle her in forward or reverse. The motor appears to run fine. The difference in sound i now hear is a slight "jingling" noise when the motor is running. Any advice would be vastly appreciated. All of the shops around here giving me 1 to 2 weeks before they can even look at it! Ugh!!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

could be broken drive shaft or the coupler is gone.

 

[alldodge]

Without the motor running move the shifter forward and reverse while look at the shift plate to see if the cables are moving

Pull the drive and look at the drive shaft. Then look inside the transom at the coupler to see if the teeth are still there and the rubber on the coupler looks ok.

Move the shift foot in one direction or another until it stops, then turn the drive shaft and see if the prop turns also

 

[achris]

What year are we talking about? The 3 litre engine has been used by Merc since the 60s, and had no less than 6 different drives behind it. ...

Chris. ....