Stuck in gear

[MrGED05]

Sirs:
'67 Mercury 3.9 hp outboard. I've fixed several problems. I have the engine running now and cooling as well.
However, whatever gear I have selected with a pair of pliers before assembling the lower leg unit is the only gear available. The shift mechanism seems to be properly engaged with the shift lever but moving the lever does not change the gear selection.
Does anyone have any suggestions to solve this problem?
Thanks in advance,
Gary

 

[lots of boats]

Re: Stuck in gear

Hi
Some shift cams could go all the way around, so you had to leave the motor in forward and make sure the gear case was in forward before assembly. If yours is like that you have to take the gear case off and start over.

 

[MrGED05]

Re: Stuck in gear

Lots,
Yes, that's what I've done (several times now) is disassemble the lower leg and the propeller foot/transmission pieces, selected matching gears for both the transmission and the gear selector. I still end up with only the gear I pre-select before assembly. The assembly process goes reasonably well, I can feel the internal pieces lining up and sliding together. The gear selector function has tha proper "click" feel to it. However, I have only what gear I started with.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Gary