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1986 Mercury 135hp 2L V6 throttle and shift cable tuning

S

steelersman224

New member
Hello,

I'm currently dialing in my 135hp mercury and I'm having trouble setting all the stops and shift cables right so
I can put the boat into gear. most of the time when I got to put the motor into gear I just get grinding and the engine RPM goes higher. I know the engine has to be at a certain RPM in order to shift into gear, but I cant find any information in the manual I purchased on how to "de-time" the stops and cable barrels so that I can shift into gear. I've got the motor to shift into gear under load previously, but now after messing with it the motor wont go into gear at all. if anyone has some tips and tricks on how to tune this in or other things i should check to make sure that its not another issue it'd be greatly appreciated!
 
The slowest idle makes for the least damage to gears and clutch dog.----Need to operate lever with a " quick firm motion " to reduce damage to gears.-----How did it shift last season ?----Was lower unit off for water pump work ?
 
last season was the first time I had it on the water. the lever was extremly firm trying to move forward. I have replaced the pump and had the lower unit off for maintenance.
 
When you remove a lower unit it is best to put the lever in FORWARD.------If you remove in neutral the lower unit usually goes into forward.-----I suggest you remove lower unit and make sure the lower unit and shift lever are the same.----If not you will have issues.
 
I gave that a try. I dropped the lower unit and put the lower unit into forward and put the control arm all the way forward and bolted it back up. the control cables move freely when unhooked from the lower unit, but once the lower unit was back on the control arm felt very stiff going into first. the motor still starts with the arm in neutral, but only grinds goin into first under load. Do I need to adjust the cable barrels or the throttle linkage? or is it possible something is wrong in the lower unit?
 
Unhook both cables at the motor.With the motor not running shift it into forward gear with your hand on the shift linkage while an assistant turns the prop ccw.Does it shift into gear easily or is it hard to move?
 
stork55 said:
Unhook both cables at the motor.With the motor not running shift it into forward gear with your hand on the shift linkage while an assistant turns the prop ccw.Does it shift into gear easily or is it hard to move?
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I'll give that a try next time I get some time to work on it. what is that diagnosing?
 
If you can shift it into gear with the cables unhooked then your shift cable is out of adjustment,if you cant then theres a good chance your shift shaft and shift linkage are not aligned right.
 
stork55 said:
If you can shift it into gear with the cables unhooked then your shift cable is out of adjustment,if you cant then theres a good chance your shift shaft and shift linkage are not aligned right.
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tore the sucker apart. you were right, shaft and splines in the bottom end weren't in sync. put splines in N and redialed throttle lever and shift shaft to correct orientation. I really appreciate everyone's help troubleshooting. Its a big help for young guys like me trying to learn.
 
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