IntheVille
New member
Hello! I have been a long time reader but I am a new registered member hoping for some advice.
I pulled my perfectly running pontoon out at the end of season and took it to a certified Merc service place to have the 300 hour service done. I tried to launch on Thursday (74 degrees in Michigan!) and I cannot get it into forward. Reverse works but it makes a grinding noise going into that gear. Pushing the throttle into drive meets with great resistance and I don't want to force it any harder.
The service included the water pump so they had to drop the lower unit. Other than that, it was just belts, filters etc.
I am pretty handy with my tools but I'm not a mechanic by any stretch. I am wondering if anyone can suggest some diagnostics I can do to find the root cause. If it's just a matter of making linkage adjustments I can handle that type of stuff but finding out why it is doing this would be a great start.
The Merc shop is backed up and short handed and can't even look at it for 2-3 weeks. I figure if I can diagnose the issue then I may be able to get her shifting correctly myself but I am not going to drop the lower unit on my own. Hoping it's something much simpler and obvious.
I pulled my perfectly running pontoon out at the end of season and took it to a certified Merc service place to have the 300 hour service done. I tried to launch on Thursday (74 degrees in Michigan!) and I cannot get it into forward. Reverse works but it makes a grinding noise going into that gear. Pushing the throttle into drive meets with great resistance and I don't want to force it any harder.
The service included the water pump so they had to drop the lower unit. Other than that, it was just belts, filters etc.
I am pretty handy with my tools but I'm not a mechanic by any stretch. I am wondering if anyone can suggest some diagnostics I can do to find the root cause. If it's just a matter of making linkage adjustments I can handle that type of stuff but finding out why it is doing this would be a great start.
The Merc shop is backed up and short handed and can't even look at it for 2-3 weeks. I figure if I can diagnose the issue then I may be able to get her shifting correctly myself but I am not going to drop the lower unit on my own. Hoping it's something much simpler and obvious.