Mercury 90 stuck in forward

[pcartier]

" I have a 1978 Mercury inline

" I have a 1978 Mercury inline 6 , 90 hp that is stuck in forward gear. The problem occured after I removed the lower unit to replace the water pump. I suspect that I did not assemble the shifter mechanism correctly. I have a Seloc manual that says it should be in forward to disassemble. I believe the reverse lock cam is not installed correctly. I dont remember what position it was in when it was disassembled. I beleive this unit is the Camshift I type. The manual says to install the reverse cam back in the correct position prior to assembly but does not give details. "

 

[jon]

" pcartier,

I'

" pcartier,

I'm not sure what type my 86 inline is, but I've done the same thing before. The splined fitting coming out of the lower unit is VERY touchy; one spline off either way and that unit will not shift right. The first time I took the lower unit off I made the mistake of tinkering with the shift and driveshaft - ran into the same problem with the splines being off and then had trouble getting the driveshaft lined up. Now I am sure not to touch a thing and the process is much quicker.... I don't think it matters which way the unit is shifted, just as long as it is left that way for re-installation.

I'm not sure what the "reverse lock cam" is, but I think all that is wrong is you have the shift shaft and that splined fitting that comes out of the lower unit lined up wrong. By taking the lower unit off, then putting the control box in forward and re-installing, it should correct the problem. If not, you just have to figure out which way the shift shaft is twisted to shift from forward into neutral and then do it manually by twisting the splined fitting (find a socket that will fit to avoid damaging splines). Put the control box in neutral and re-install the lower unit.

Jon "