Merc 140 stuck in forward

[Jsiples]

Hello, I have an Alpha One outdrive with a 140 hp merc. Last weekend had the boat out running great. Went into reverse back to neutral then in to forward. From there on when throttle went into neutral position then to reverse drive stayed in forward and actually will rev and continue in forward with shifter down in reverse. I manually (in the driveway) put the clutch under the drive in neutral manually then started her up with the muffs and it seemed to stay in neutral decently a small amount of spin on the prop. I put the shifter in forward you hear the dog clutch hit and it will go in to forward but will not return to neutral or reverse?

 

[Don S]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

Broken lower shift cable.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

broken shift cable, shift components,drive needs to be pulled first

 

[Jsiples]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

Broken lower shift cable.

Thank you for the info. Would you guess the drive is bad if I cannot manually put the clutch in the reverse position manually from underneath?

 

[Jsiples]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

Thanks for the info would you guess that if I cannot manually put the drive in reverse from below but can go in neutral and forward there may be a separate problem?

 

[Don S]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

I wouldn't assume anything. Pull the drive and look.

 

[Jsiples]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

Thanks Don, I got her for free so I cannot complain I have read the manual front to rear and there is no explanation on that sort of problem, thanks again.

 

[Don S]

Re: Merc 140 stuck in forward

The Mercruiser service manuals were never intended to be a DIYers handbook to cover every conceivable problem. They were designed for trained marine techs to Assist in troubleshooting and repair. Service training schools and the numerous DVD's and Tapes put out by Merc helps in between.
Aftermarket manuals like Clymers and Selocs were designed for DIYers, not for maintenance so much, more for removing money from your pockets. They only have a quarter (usually less) of the information that the Merc manuals have and includes free of charge many mistakes and oversights.