Logo
FULL SITE MENU

merc xR1 150 WONT GO INTO REVERSE?

E

Evan 19ft

New member
Hello,i have a Mercury xR1 150hp 2stroke on a 19ft galaxy.I am having trouble getting the engine into reverse. it goes into forward gear just fine but when i try to put it in reverse it just makes a grinding noise and does not fully go into reverse gear.when the boat is out of the water and with ear muffs and hose hooked up the boat will go into reverse with the prop turning but does not do this when in the water. my question is there some sort of cable adjustment or link that i can adjust to fix this issue or is it something more serious?Ive tried searching the web and down loaded the shop manual with no luck, any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
 
Somewhat confused by it operating ok on muffs but try this. Set your remote shift lever to N. Rock it back and forth somewhat to ensure it is centered on the N detent.

Go to the engine and remove the cowling. Where the control cables enter the engine is a rubber grommet. It will come out when you lift the cables in the next step. If not help it along.

As you follow the cables into the engine a few inches there is a clamp and in the clamp mechanism are two brass cylinders, one mounted on each of the control cables. At the top of the clamp is a little raised piece of the outer plastic that you just put your finger on and flip toward the rear. It should fall down out of the way exposing the brass cylinders.

Go to the end of the shifter cable and remove the metal clip that keeps the cable tip on the pin that is part of the engine shift linkage.

Remove the shift cable just enough to get to the pin I just mentioned. Your engine should be in or near N. You can tell by the prop rotating both directions freely. With that the case, rock the pin back and forth finding the center point. The shifter in the lower unit is a piece of metal with 3 conical detents. The shifting mechanism in the LU is a pointed pin of sorts. The idea is to rock the piece of metal back and forth allowing the pointed pin to find the lowest point, hence the center of the N gear movement.

Now go back to your cable and attach the end with the hole in it to the engine shift linkage without moving it.

Lower the cylinder to the hole in the clamp made for it and note where it is physically located with respect to the hole. If it is not lined up with the hole this could be your problem. It and the cable are threaded so just spin it up/down the cable till it lines up with the hole and drop it in place moving nothing but the brass cylinder. Replace the black plastic lock that you removed to gain access to the cylinders.

Give that a go.

On shifting, you never want to shift into R with out the engine running or if not running slowly while the prop is being rotated. The R gear consists of cogs and pins and has to be right on to mesh. If you don't do as I said, you can bend your linkage and bent linkage could also cause your problem.

HTH,
Mark
 
If the retention nut for the shift arm stud is loose where the shift cable attaches it won't shift worth a crap into reverse. It causes the cable end to rise upward a fraction of an inch and not push the shift lever backward and into gear. That happened to me a month ago. The nut was only loose a 1/4 turn. I tightened it down and added a drop of blue locktite to it. Working fine ever since.
 
guyjg said:
If the retention nut for the shift arm stud is loose where the shift cable attaches it won't shift worth a crap into reverse. It causes the cable end to rise upward a fraction of an inch and not push the shift lever backward and into gear. That happened to me a month ago. The nut was only loose a 1/4 turn. I tightened it down and added a drop of blue locktite to it. Working fine ever since.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with a loose nut (loose nuts. Ha!) can certainly cause that problem too. So in that case I'd ensure it was tight then make the cable measurement.

Mark
 
Last edited:
Back
Top