2002 25 hp Mercury will not shift out of forward

[tmh018]

Had charger on my boat the other day and something shorted. It got hot enough that the plastic cam that connects to the shift rod melted enough that it broke when I tried to shift it. I replaced the shift cam and pin latch but the motor will not shift out of forward. When I move the remote shift back to neutral it gets really tight and won’t go into neutral or reverse. With some effort I can pull it far enough toward neutral that I can crank it but it will not shift completely into neutral. I recently had some work done on lower unit and noticed that they had left the washer off of the top of the shift rod that engages and releases the motor lock. I took the lower unit off and replaced the washer and put everything back together but it will still not shift back into neutral or reverse. It runs fine in forward. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mechanicman]

When you had the lower unit off. Did you try to shift it. To see if the problem was in the lower unit or not

 

[tmh018]

When you had the lower unit off. Did you try to shift it. To see if the problem was in the lower unit or not

Yes, the controls and cam shifts perfectly forward/ neutral/ reverse as long as the pin is removed that connects the cam to the shift rod. When the
pin is replaced, it binds up when trying to move from forward back to neutral. I’m not sure what to do to fix it if it’s something out of sync in the lower unit.

 

[mechanicman]

I would remove the lower unit again. Inspect the shift rod try to move it up and down . It may be the gears are hung up. So try moving the prop by hand while pushing and pulling the shift rod. You may have melted the seal for the shift rod also.