85 HP Force won't shift

[M Johnson]

I have an 85HP Force outboard from somewhere in the early 80's (model # 856X37). Was out on the lake the other day, was cruising along nicely, and then heard a "thud". The boat came to a stop, but the motor continued to run. We were in pretty deep water, and I did not see anything I could've hit.

Today, in the driveway, I put muffs on it, and tested it out. The engine starts and runs fine, putting it and forward and reverse "revs" the motor, but the prop does not spin.

Anyone have an idea what this could mean? I'm going to bring it in this week to be looked at, and I just would like to have a little bit of info to bring with me. Thanks

 

[maxum247]

Re: 85 HP Force won't shift

Have you checked to see if the gear shift cable came loose from the bracket at the engine and is out of adjustment? This may have allowed the lower unit to pop out of gear all of a sudden and possibly explain no forward or reverse gear.

It seems like if it were the clutch dog in the lower unit it would have been giving you problems jumping out of gear for a while instead of all of a sudden nothing. max!