Shifting problems

[craig newton]

2004 50hp Mercury 4cyl 4stroke EFI on a 17' Alumaweld.
I have a side mounted control box. Shifting has never been as smooth as I would like it to be even after I had a shop adjust the cables. According to my manual the adjustment didn't align the cables correctly but I assumed they knew what they were doing and it was only 1/4" off. It got to the point I was having to jerk it to get it in and out of gear (especially reverse). I disconnected the shift cable at the engine thinking (hoping) it was binding up, dried up or frayed somewhere between the engine and the control box. I was hoping for a semi-easy remove and replace job. But now I can easily push the lever on the control box from one end to the other.
So grabbing hold of the linkage at the top of the shift shaft, I can turn it to forward and back to neutral without any problem but I have to be turning the prop at the same time I turn the shift shaft to reverse in order for it to smoothly go in to gear. I was told that was normal. So I don't know what else to check. Could being a 1/4" off in shift cable length cause that much trouble shifting? Is there anything else I should be checking? I welcome and very much appreciate any input. Thank you

 

[bruceb58]

You shouldn't be shifting without the engine running. It's a poor test and puts pressure unnecessarily on your shift cable.

Many years ago, I changed out my console shifter to a Gen II and new cables and the shifting went from just marginal to silky smooth. Definitely recommend it.

 

[racerone]

Motor must be running or prop must be turned for shifting to be smooth.

 

[Chris1956]

Motor idling too fast makes shifting difficult. I would expect idle speed in neutral to be 900RPM or less.

 

[bruceb58]

Motor idling too fast makes shifting difficult. I would expect idle speed in neutral to be 900RPM or less.

Higher RPMs cause shifting out of gear to be harder. Shifting into gear won't matter. Of course if running on muffs, RPM doesn't matter much since no load on the dog clutch pawls.

 

[JessieMertz]

2004 50hp Mercury 4cyl 4stroke EFI on a 17' Alumaweld.
I have a side mounted control box. Shifting has never been as smooth as I would like it to be even after I had a shop adjust the cables. According to my manual the adjustment didn't align the cables correctly but I assumed they knew what they were doing and it was only 1/4" off. It got to the point I was having to jerk it to get it in and out of gear (especially reverse). I disconnected the shift cable at the engine thinking (hoping) it was binding up, dried up or frayed somewhere between the engine and the control box. I was hoping for a semi-easy remove and replace job. But now I can easily push the lever on the control box from one end to the other.
So grabbing hold of the linkage at the top of the shift shaft, I can turn it to forward and back to neutral without any problem but I have to be turning the prop at the same time I turn the shift shaft to reverse in order for it to smoothly go in to gear. I was told that was normal. So I don't know what else to check. Could being a 1/4" off in shift cable length cause that much trouble shifting? Is there anything else I should be checking? I welcome and very much appreciate any input. Thank you





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