Shifting in only one direction unless the prop is rotated slightly.

2004 Yamaha F225TXRD

I recently rebuilt the water pump on my Yamaha 225 Outboard. Now the engine will not shift through the gears. The engine will shift from neutral to either forward or reverse, but will not shift into both forward and reverse from neutral. For example, when the engine is not running and the engine is in neutral, I am able to shift in one direction, say reverse. When I shift back into neutral from reverse, the engine will not shift into forward. If I apply slight pressure on the shifter in the reverse direction and rotate the prop slightly, the engine will shift into reverse. From reverse the engine will shift back into neutral, but will not continue to forward unless I apply slight pressure to the shifter in the forward direction and rotate the prop slightly. Upon rotating the prop, the engine will shift. To check the linkage, I disconnected the shift linkage in the cowling of the motor and repeated the process by shifting manually at the motor. The engine still only shifts one direction unless I rotate the prop. If anybody has knowledge that will help me fix this problem, please help me. I do not want to take the foot apart unnecessarily. Thank you.

Nothing to fix,thats normal,motor designed to be run in the water.

Rwbutler said:

Nothing to fix,thats normal,motor designed to be run in the water.

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Thank you for your reply. It is good to hear that there may be not be a major problem in the foot.

When I had the boat in the water last weekend, the engine was very difficult to shift from in gear to neutral and back into gear. It did not grind, but required back and forth motion with pressure on the shift lever. I had to force it to shift when loading the boat. The hard shifting experience while in the water caused me to think the linkage needed adjusting or the clutch dog was damaged. Also prior to my removing the foot, rebuilding the water pump and replacing the upper seals in the foot, the engine would shift through forward, neutral and reverse at the shift lever with the engine not running. Now it will shift in only one direction at the shift lever with the engine not running.

While in the water last weekend, the rpm seemed high when in neutral, so that may have been the problem shifting while in the water. I still do not understand why the engine used to shift through forward neutral and reverse while not running and now will shift only in one direction. This change in shifting while the engine is off and the difficulty in shifting the motor while in operation last weekend is what caused me to think the clutch dog had a problem. Do you have an idea why the shift lever will not shift through the gears now when the shift lever used to move through the gears prior to my work on the water pump?

Thank you,
Glenn Richardson

Outboard motors should not be shifted into a gear if they are not running. There is the possibility of damage.

If and when the Gods are willing the clutch dogs may line up in the gear case and allow for the motor to be shifted into either gear. Most times they won't. During those times some folks tend to want to force the shift. The shift that they should not be doing. Using the bigger hammer approach.

The hi rpm is what makes it hard to shift onto neutral.

Rwbutler said:

The hi rpm is what makes it hard to shift onto neutral.

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When the motor is running yes. Which is why Yamaha suggests letting the motor reach in gear idle speed before making the shift. Which is why a shift cut switch is used in some models to help facilitate the shift.

With the motor not running it is the clutch dogs not lining up that can prevent a shift from happening.