1993 200hp off shore mariner .. during a disembarking fiasco last week I had to shift into reverse quickly .. no reverse now. sounds like its only going halfway..anyway.. I found out the lower end had pulled away from the transom , the mounts are /were pretty well rotten. This caused the shift shaft to be pinched against the driveshaft housing. My question is, how do I check lower unit to see if it was the shift linkage binding or if it internal ? The lower unit is off because I though it was bad, now I'm not sure. I can put it in forward and into reverse by hand, both ways it seems like it engages.. while it was in water I could put it in reverse and couldn't turn prop by hand but if it was running and shifted into reverse it would just make that nasty ratcheting noise and wouldn't move the boat..It would go forward though.. I'm new to outboards and all this.. Thanks to anybody who might help. I found these forums to be the best places to learn about almost anything.. and when its people who have experienced the same issues there is no better place to get so much information..
