Hi, im new here. i hope y'all can help. I have a 2002 Mercury 9.9 outboard engine (not the bigfoot model). I changed the impeller, lower gear case oil, and the oil and oil filter. when i tested the motor today, the impeller wasn't working. it turned out that the plastic water tube was not connected to the metal water tube. I fixed that and the engine was running great.
when i saw the water coming out i tried the shifter. I shifted into forward at idle, then neutral at idle, then reverse. when i went into reverse it there was a vibrating/crunching sound. I thought that when i may have put the lower unit back on, i connected the shift rod too low. I tried to adjust the shift rod but now the shift does not feel like it has gear positions. it used to have clear stops at forward, neutral, and reverse. now it just moves loosely. the shift linkage cable is moving and the arms under the engine cover move, but i cant see where it goes after that. I did make sure to reattach the shift rod with both the upper and lower unit in forward. what did i do wrong and how do i fix it? thanks for your help!
when i saw the water coming out i tried the shifter. I shifted into forward at idle, then neutral at idle, then reverse. when i went into reverse it there was a vibrating/crunching sound. I thought that when i may have put the lower unit back on, i connected the shift rod too low. I tried to adjust the shift rod but now the shift does not feel like it has gear positions. it used to have clear stops at forward, neutral, and reverse. now it just moves loosely. the shift linkage cable is moving and the arms under the engine cover move, but i cant see where it goes after that. I did make sure to reattach the shift rod with both the upper and lower unit in forward. what did i do wrong and how do i fix it? thanks for your help!