1971 Merc. 650 gear shift lever jam?

[Joe Baublis]

1971 Merc. 650 seems to shift into gears forward, neutral, and reverse then it jams and I can't get it out of reverse. Is the jam connected to the attached photo of a engine locking mechanism? This post seems to slide up and down as the engine is dropped into position and locks on a bar. I can't determine whether or not the latching action is intended to dis-engage the gears. If the gear jam is not caused by this post, then what is causing the jam?

 

[haventaclue]

That is your reverse lock mechanism,stops the engine climbing out of the water while in reverse,it also engages in neutral or should,that's why you put it in forward to lift the outboard.
Check your cables for jamming.First have someone shift into reverse to see if anything is catching.If no joy,disconnect them and see that the cables move freely.Shift the gears manually while the cables are disconnected,if it jams again,time to drop the lower unit to see what's happening.
On the reverse lock is the cam in place on the shift shaft,if not,the rod may be dropping down and jamming the shift shaft

 

[haventaclue]

This thing,and have you got the guide in place,the white thing

 

[Joe Baublis]

Mr. Haventaclue thank you. I don't know. I have not dropped the gear box. The cables slid easily prior to connection to the engine. The throttle control moved the cables and slid into forward, reverse, and neutral gears easily. The reverse gear mechanism was not engaged because I had taken the cross bar out, because I haventaclue. I wanted to be able to lift the engine out of the bath after testing it. When I tested it, it got stuck in reverse gear.
It seemed like the reverse mechanism had jammed too because even with the cross bar in place when I drop the engine the latch would not engage on the cross bar. So I tapped the latch hooks with a hammer and they lifted up a little. At that point I could drop the engine and the hooks did engage on the cross bar.
However, I'm still stuck in reverse.

Please tell me - does lifting the vertical rod up release the shift shaft to the gears?

 

[haventaclue]

Nope,the way it works,the reverse lock cam,middle pic, is located on the shift shaft,when the control is shifted into neutral or reverse,the shaft rotates and the cam with it pushing the rod up and the hooks over the tilt pin/bar,which in turn stops the engine climbing out.
The guide,third pic,keeps the reverse lock rod and shift shaft in place,so if the rod is out of place it could jamb the shift shaft and prevent gear shift.
The first pic is the spacer under the shift cam

 

[Joe Baublis]

thank you again sir. It appears that the problem was in the gear shift cable. Please forward your advice. Occasionally, on full extension (ie when the cable sets the engine in reverse) the inner cable gets jammed at the outer sheath where the cable enters the throttle/gear control mechanism. I pulled the inner cable out the outer sheath, and sprayed it with an all purpose lubricant, then shoved it back into the sheath, twisting a bit, then pulled out , sprayed again, and shove back in. I was trying to get some lubricant down into the tiny gap between the inner cable and the outer sheath. Gradually the jam was declined. Now it seems to slide in an out much better. But I'm a little concerned - how long with the lubricant last? Is there a wound steel cable inside with a frayed strand? Is it wise to purchase a new cable?

 

[haventaclue]

It would be better to replace the cable,it would a real pain if you were out on the water and it jammed on you.It would be rare for the cable to fray unless there was heavy corrosion inside and a couple of strands parted,though I don't think lubing it wouldn't stop it catching if it was frayed.