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1998 200hp Saltwater II Yamaha - FNR Shift Binds Bad - Help

A

alienhelper

New member
after reinstalling the lower unit following winter storage, the shift on my yamaha saltwater II sticks. the shift assembly and parts visible in upper engine look good, move freely and find forward, neutral and reverse. all parts shift smoothly so long as the lower unit is not inserted into the spline at the engine's bottom. as soon as the lower unit is bolted on, the shift binds, i can't find neutral and from forward, the unit will not shift to neutral. i have no idea where to look. i have reset both the lower unit spline and engine shift spline to the neutral positions, reassembled the two units and the same thing happens, shift binds. what replacement parts should i be looking at? or, am i doing something wrong?
 
Sometimes the cables take very little load to become hard to move if they are starting to were out inside. Is there grease on the detent ball in the lower cowl? Has that adjacent fitting been greased? I have seen that mechanism get damaged when the spline wasn't lined up perfectly and the bolts were used to pull the unit on.
 
PBRMAN, thank you for the courtesy of your reply . . . I wish it were the cable or cable control assembly but I don’t think that’s the problem. After reassembly, after the shift cable end is attached to the shift cam lever in the engine it shifts smoothly. I start the engine, shift into forward, attempt to return to neutral and the unit binds. I shut the engine down, remove the cable end from the shift cam in the engine and try to move the shift cam located at the top of the engine where the shift cable attaches and mechanism binds and cannot move the shift F/N or R. I wish it were the shift cable . . . jammed is a good way to describe the condition but the unit is well greased and moves smoothly so long as the engine and lower are not joined. i am not sure if there is a right position inside the lower unit that the gear assembly prefers and maybe the spline from the lower unit got misaligned. i know the top of the engine and cable are good . . .
 
PBRMAN thanks for the reply . . . oil is perfect, just changed out. shafts tight, seals tight. all parts turn nicely. again, all units work smothly until they are mated together. got me stumped and the trouble is, there are not that many parts in the shift gear assembly to go bad. just don't know. thanks anyway.
 
I have had simular problem with F 115 Yamaha it turned out to be the shifter shaft when going into the spline did not slide all the way up putting doward pressure on shifter shaft cleaned up bur on shaft solved the problem
 
230COBIA thanks for your reply and you got it! spent all day at work thinking about the problem. took lower unit off/on several times over the years and no problem. i was lucky. this year, exactly as you described, the spline and receiver binded(sp?) without any real indication of a problem until shifting following bolt up. tonite i slowly snugged the two units together while shifting and watching the union seat. came together perfect. learned something new. despite what one would think . . . this union or junction could bind, does bind and will prevent seating producing great stress and torque at the top of the shift linkage. thanks again good diagnosis!
 
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