Shifting in Reverse Problems

[dougd1]

I have a 9.9 HP o/b mercury that I am having difficulty shifting. It is a tiller shift. Going forward from neutral and back to neutral - no problem. There are times it is very difficult to get into reverse, and once there, sometimes impossible to get back into neutral. Once this happens, the only way to get it out of reverse is to manually rotate the propeller a half to full turn. Once that is done, the shift into neutral is fine. I can then shift forward, neutral, reverse, neutral etc, until it again jams in reverse and I have to rotate the shaft again. This does not happen in fwd gear, only in reverse. Is this an adjustment issue, or is there something going bad in the lower gearcase of the motor, the shift linkage, or the clutch mechanism?
Thanks.
Doug

 

[hardwater fisherman]

If it shifts well while running then it should be okay.. If not running you need to rotate prop while shifting or risk damaging something inside the gearcase.

 

[dougd1]

If it shifts well while running then it should be okay.. If not running you need to rotate prop while shifting or risk damaging something inside the gearcase.

Well, when running, I have had to rotate the prop in the water in order to get it out of reverse.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Are you saying it does shift okay while running?

 

[dougd1]

No, when running, it doesn't shift well when trying to get to and from reverse. Sometimes, it simply will not shift out of reverse. I have to stop the engine, rotate the prop shaft, shift into neutral, and then restart the engine.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

Okay sorry when you said you where turning the prop for shifting I thought the problem was when the motor was not running. Give your serial number and maybe someone can help you.

 

[Chris1956]

Is the gear oil the proper type and clean? That is the first and cheapest check.

 

[dougd1]

Is the gear oil the proper type and clean? That is the first and cheapest check.

Gear oil was replaced this summer. Have had 4-5 running hours on it since. The shifting problem occured before the oil was changed and continues to happen after the oil change. Gear oil is the correct type. Serial # of the motor is OR126144, model year 2006.

 

[Chris1956]

Check adjustment of shift lever. Not sure how to do that on your motor.

On the larger motors, we set the shift slider to neutral, with the cable disconnected. Now adjust the shift cable to fit the position of the shift cable, with the control in neutral.