Mercury 4.5hp - Shifter Linkage/Gear Slipping (below powerhead)

[bigtime_mcalpine]

I had been having some issues with shifting between gears. I pulled the lower end and inspected. Lower end looked fine.

I then took a closer look at the gear and linkage mech and notice that the two are getting stuck and or disconnecting altogether. I rotated the gear to marry up the two correctly and even then, the linkage only worked correctly for a few shifts and then the two got misaligned again and routinely jambed.

I'm considering replacing two pieces: the gear at the top of the vertical shift shaft and the gear that is attached to the end of the shift lever.

Any experience with this? Should I replace both, the first or the second? Any thoughts?

 

[fitz73222]

Which 4.5 do you have? The single cylinder or the Gnat, what is the serial number?

 

[bigtime_mcalpine]

Which 4.5 do you have? The single cylinder or the Gnat, what is the serial number?

It’s the single cylinder which has fwd and reverse (the one you have to put the cover back on to pull start).

 

[fitz73222]

Look for a broken roll pin on the horizontal shaft between the shift handle and gear, it may be momentarily catching a piece of the pin and then letting loose after a couple of shift motions.