Logo
FULL SITE MENU

1998 Yamaha 40 HP motor can't find neutral or reverse, only forward in all gears after replacing impeller.

P

PastorKen

New member
I have a 1998 Yamaha 40 HP outboard motor that seems stuck in forward gear (even when in neutral). The day prior to discovering my issue, I had dropped the bottom unit and changed all the water pump components and reinstalled. Took it to the lake and the water pumps great, but I discovered the propeller is driving forward even while I have the shifter in neutral. If I shift to reverse, it still drives forward. What can I do to correct this issue? Any good help is greatly appreciated!
 
Remove blower unit.----Put control in neutral.----Put lower unit in neutral.-----Re-assemble.----The clutch dog is spring loaded.----If you removed with control in neutral , it jumped into forward when you were not looking.
 
Thanks racerone, I'll have to check into each step you've described to see how to get my motor back to its normal shifting function. I've got to identify the blower unit. By putting the control in neutral, I'm assuming you're telling me to make certain the shifting handle is in the neutral position. Then I'm supposed to take the lower unit off (as if I'm accessing the water pump unit) and somehow ensuring the lower unit is in neutral. How is that accomplished, and is there any way of knowing I've got it right before re-assembling? As you can tell, I'm not that familiar with some of this nomenclature and certainly not an experience mechanic, but with good instruction, I believe I can manage correcting the error I make while installing the water pump assembly the other day. I appreciate your time and patience helping me!!!
 
Sorry , I meant lower unit.----Rotate shift rod to put lower unit in neutral.----Assemble with shift lever in neutral.----Should not be hard to do.
 
Thanks again! It's currently raining here until tomorrow (noonish) and I'll break it down then. You've been a great help and I appreciate it. I'll let you know how things go soon as it all comes together.
 
OK, here it is Saturday 3:30 PM and I've got the LU removed. First thing I notice is the shift shaft is pulled out of the LU and still engaged in the upper shaft connection. So, I pulled the shift shaft out of the upper and inserted it into the LU plate until the teeth line up and the shaft seats in place. (what it's doing in the gear area I have no clue). Now for the problem, I can freely rotate the shaft clockwise and counter clockwise with no resistance. Has this simple fix become a major issue? I need help!
 
Sounds like the lower shift rod has come out of the shift cam deep inside the lower unit.----Perhaops it is time to visit a shop of find some online tutorials to help you.
 
I would appreciate it if someone would care to guide me through the process or suggest an online tutorial I could use to accomplish this task. Please feel free to give whatever advice you think I need right now. Thanks! I do appreciate all the help I've received from racerone, it just turned out to be a more difficult issue with the lower shift rod pulled out of the shift cam. However I'm determined to get this done so please help.
 
Do you see a groove up towards the top of the shift rod? There should have been a circlip there to keep the rod from being pulled from the lower unit.

Best you can now do is to hope to be able to get the splines at the end of the shift rod to go into the splines of the shift cam. Will be a bit fiddly but you might get lucky.

With more luck the shift cam has not rotated. So that the lower unit remains in the gear position in which it was removed. Hopefully neutral. In which case the propeller should rotate easily in both directions.

 
If you cannot get the shift shaft to engage the shift cam I am seeing a dismantlement of the lower unit in your future.
 
Back
Top