Prop spins in same direction in both forward and reverse gear...

[christopher425]

Hey guys, I change the impeller on my 1987 mercury mariner 45 HP two stroke 4cyl. and the shifting was off. It would go into forward and neutral but the prop would spin freely both ways in reverse. I took the lower head back off and looking at the cam shaft I manually shifted it from forward to neutral to reverse. My problem I'm having is when I put it in reverse it spins the same direction as forward. Meaning when I hear it click to lock the prop it will lock and catch when it goes in the counterclockwise direction. The same as when I move it into the forward position. It's like it has two forward gears, which I know makes no sense. The prop will not change directions like it should when going from forward to reverse. It's acting the same way in both gears. Does this sound like something in the gearbox that has gone afoul? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[racerone]

Answer this.----When you took the lower unity off was the control in neutral ?-----At the top of the Mercury forum here you will find a tutorial ( third one down the list ) on how to correct this.-----This mistake has been made hundreds of time

 

[christopher425]

Yes. It was in neutral. I looked at that tutorial, also. Super helpful. But even with the lower unit off and I manually put it in reverse (eliminating the possibility of it being a shift cable alignment issue), the prop doesn't react like it should.

It supposed the be counter clockwise (reverse), middle (neutral), and most clockwise position (forward).

The prop doesn't react differently when I switch it from forward to reverse on the cam shaft.

ALSO, when I hooked everything up just to test the impeller install it HAS forward and neutral. NO prop spin with reverse

 

[racerone]

Try this put control in forward have lower unit in forward.---Put lower unit in place.---Test shift before installing bolts.-----The clutch dog is spring loaded and it jumped into forward while you were not looking.----Easy issue for me to resolve.

 

[christopher425]

Ok. Will try that and report back findings.

 

[christopher425]

Quick question: if I'm looking at the shifting shaft on the lower unit, is fully counterclockwise the forward position, middle neutral, and fully clockwise being the reverse.

So 10 o'clock is forward --> noon is neutral --> 2 o'clock reverse???

 

[christopher425]

Also, could my clutch dog be jammed in FWD position? I'll admit that I read on here to not shift the gears into REV unless you spin the prop at the same time and I believe I did this. Still strange that it will click into all 3 gear locations, but doesn't engage the REV position like it should. It locks the prop and spins it in the wrong direction. All of this is done with the LH on the floor and not bolted to the upper...

 

[racerone]

Turn the shift rod counterclockwise to get NEUTRAL>----Then turn it more CCW to get reverse.----Some effort required as there is a spring in there.

 

[christopher425]

Just wanted to update as my issue has been repaired! I did as you said racerone. I was having trouble for 2 reasons:

1) My shift cable had split open just as it came out of the control so the cable was being forced out instead of sliding back/forth in the plastic wrapping. Cable replaced.
2) I was missing REV gear by just a fraction of a turn on the shift rod. I was turning the rod too much; therefore, missing REV gear by just a smidge. Once REV was found, we put the control in reverse, installed it, and it shifts better than ever! Thanks everyone for all the help.