'74 merc outdrive won't go into any gear

[Littleboyblue]

I was going along fine until i went through some sea grass floating in top water. We stopped and raised up the outdrive and freed the grass. When i put the outdrive back down it now will not go into forward or reverse. I hear it trying. Kind of slight grinding but won't go into gear. What could cause this? And what should i do to fix it. I am very mechanically inclined. Cars/motorcycles, some boat. Thanks

 

[alldodge]

Howdy

Being a 1974 I'm assuming its an Alpha drive. When the throttle lever is moved FWD or REV does the lever and the cables on the shift plate move?

If they do, disconnect the lower shift cable from the plate and push cable in until it stops, then see if the prop locks in one direction. If it does, pull the cable until it stops and see if the drive locks in the other direction.

If those work, next thing is do the shift cable adjustment in this vid

If after adjustment it still will not shift, the you need a new lower shift cable

 

[Littleboyblue]

My shift selector is horazontal not vertical. It also has a hydrolic switch atatched to the arm. It only has 2 cables. One is the forward reverse and the other is the throttle. I can see a cable that runs under the engine and through the transom but can't see where it originates. I suspect that is the shift cable that goes through the gamble to the shift linkage. I work the next couple of days but my next day off I will disconnect the cables to see if it will go into gear. Someone suggested maybe the cable housing got stretched out and now the cable does not fully travel inside the casing. Thanks for any help. Any idea on the hydrolic switch?

 

[alldodge]

Any idea on the hydrolic switch?

That should be the reverse lock valve. Don't know what motor you have but do think the adjustments should be the same. Maybe achris can fill in the blanks, but here is some from manual 2

 

[achris]

... Someone suggested maybe the cable housing got stretched out and now the cable does not fully travel inside the casing. ...

Did you have a 400lb gorilla pulling on the shift lever? If not, then 'someone' needs to engage brain before opening mouth. The cable outer is steel, the cable inner is also steel. Either of which can support substantially more than it would require to break something else before a cable 'stretched'....

The hydraulic switch is indeed the reverse lock valve. It affects on the trim system, but is operated by the shift system. Very unlikely that's the cause.

The 2 cables on the shift plate (horizontal or vertical) are the remote control shift cable and the lower shift cable. The remote control cable comes from the remote control and the lower shift cable goes down under/behind the engine, through the transom assembly and into the front of the bell housing. In the bell housing is a slilde that pulls and pushes an arm that is connected to a shaft, the shift shaft. It goes all the way into the drive...

This is the best diagram I have ever seen of how it works....

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...3-how-to-how-the-shift-interrupt-system-works

Chris.........

 

[Littleboyblue]

Thanks Alldodge. That is the exact setup I have. The motor is a merc 165 inline 6. So what could cause it not to shift into FWD or RVRS? It seems the dog clutch is not traveling fully in either direction. If it is an adjustment could it get out of adjustment just hitting sea grass?

 

[Littleboyblue]

So which cable do I pull to see if the gears will engage?

 

[alldodge]

So which cable do I pull to see if the gears will engage?

The one going into the transom.