Need help!

[badluck23]

I have an omc cobra sterdrive on my 1994 four winns, the other day I took it out on the water, it went into reverse hard when i tried to back up from the dock and after i put it into forward gear I couldn't get it out of gear into neutral or anything, when the boat is not running it still won't go into neutral Any ideas on what it could be?

 

[Levinz11]

Re: Need help!

A few things to check. Starting with the easiest:

-Disconnect shift cable from coupling in engine compartment. Does the cable move smoothly using the remote control at helm?
-Can you "manually" shift the drive from the engine coupling?

Start there and report back. Having the manual for your drive/engine will help, too.

 

[badluck23]

Re: Need help!

I have disconnected the cable and it did move freely

 

[Levinz11]

Re: Need help!

I have disconnected the cable and it did move freely

OK so you can check the remote control and forward shift cable off the list.

Can you shift the outdrive using the coupler or transom shift cable??

 

[badluck23]

Re: Need help!

I pulled the shift mechanism out and the gears on the upper drive shaft look good but i can't get the upper gear to
slide up to disengage into neutral. I tried to turn the prop by hand hoping it would free up the gear, but I couldn't make a
full rotation. I'm thinking the compression in the motor is making it hard to turn, so I plan to pull the spark plugs out to
make it easier to turn the prop by hand. I'm also thinking that that upper and lower gear should slide up and down fairly
easy or am I wrong in my thinking? What would cause this set of gears to not slide up and down easy? When I drained
the lower unit last fall, there weren't any metal filings on the magnetic drain plug.