Control cables are stiff

"hi everyone hope you all had

"hi everyone hope you all had a great season enjoying the water, i removed my boat last weekend from the marina for winter storage and noticed i found it hard to select forward and reverse gear. After checking all the cables i have isolated the problem to the cable connecting to the leg, it appears to be seized solid in neutral with no budging it. I have been told i cannot get at the other end of the cable unless i drop the leg, now im a motor mechanic by trade but dont want to remove if possible. Is their any way i can get access to spray some wd40 in or do i have to pull off the leg. Ye see its said you have to have the forward gear engaged to successfully remove the leg but as mine is stuck im a bit reluctant, any input would be great . Thanks"

"No way to lube it and the dri

"No way to lube it and the drive needs to be removed to replace the cable.Check the cable where it goes past the Y pipe, you may have overheated and melted the cable."

"is it a very big job to pull

"is it a very big job to pull off the leg, and were would i get gaskets to replace or can i use tiger seal to reseal?"

"removing the outdrive is easy

"removing the outdrive is easy, as you know it needs to be in forward.. there is a way around it depending on where the cable is rusted.

removing the drive is accomplished by removing the nuts from the tilt arms and the 6 nuts that hold it onto the gimbal housing... and pulling..
BUT you have to get the shift cable into forward, underneath the gimbal housing is a lever that comes down and goes into the gear case, it needs to be turned clockwise by about 1 hour. if the cable is in bad shape, you'll need to cut it under the gimbal housing, tilt the drive up and cut, dont cut the rubber boot, you will need to remove the clip on the small end of the boot, but you dont need to remove the boot.

Gaskets you can order from many places, and Mercury or Mercruiser Dealer can get them.. less than 10$ for a set. (should be) But you'll also need a new lower shift cable about 20-30$ i think, forget. You can also order from a NAPA Autoparts store."