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Reverse problem

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Robste71

New member
I took my lower unit off to change impeller then when i bolted it back up the impeller was in reverse gear. I dropped it back down and tried putting it on in reverse and now it wont come out of reverse. It wont even come out with shifter cable off and lower unit off. What did i do?
 
Take lower unit off.----Then find / shift to neutral on the lower unit.----Put control in neutral.----Assemble.----Make sure it does not jump into forward when you are not looking.---They often do that.
 
The model/year will certainly help diagnose the problem.

But from what you describe it sounds like you allowed the shift shaft to come too far out of the case which allowed the spring loaded cam follower to pop out of the end of the propeller shaft. When that happens you can not get the cam shifter, which is attached to the bottom of the shift shaft back in it's proper location which allows you to shift between forward, neutral and reverse. (the cam follower is like a large (pin) and when it pops out it blocks the front of the gearcase where the end of the shift shaft "should be" - you can't move it backwards, back where it belongs when this happens without disassembly).

The "natural" position is reverse and if you are stuck in it, the above is almost always the case.

If that is what happened then you have to pull the prop shaft out (so tear down the gearcase) to get it set up again. I have been there myself on more occasions than I can really remember. If you can get the bearing carrier (on the propshaft) out then it's not a terrible job. But on older motors that is usually the "booger" that turns the job into a nightmare...
 
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If the cam popped out it would be always in forward not reverse as clutch dog is preloaded... (inlines/Xr small cases) need model/year
 
No....Ignore galamb previous post as yours dont have a spring
1) trim motor all the way up
2) loosen and lower the lower unit so shift splines/coupler just disconnect
3) put control box in forward
4) take a small pair of pliers/needle nose/Channellock and turn shift shaft clockwise while rotating prop and you will fill it lock
5) slide unit up till spline coupler just touches and wiggle to align and unit should slide into place.
6) make sure water pump coupling aligns with water tube and tighten 1 bolt. Shift to test(rotate prop while doing so)and if OK tighten the rest
 
Yes it is off and in neutral. I took the shiftal cable off the motor to see if it was locked up but it was free when disconnected. I tried ****ing it at the motor and it wont shift
 
So the motor won't shift even with the lower unit off? Is there a "warm up or fast idle" on your controls? All you did was remove the lower unit.....that shouldn't effect the shifting at the control.
 
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The motor shift rod/shaft can't be turned from the bottom, that's normal. It of course is activated when the cable from the control, moves the slide fore and aft. You should be able to move that slide (with the cable off), with even your finger. There has to be something out of whack at the top of the vertical shift shaft. Is it possible that it got forced up when the lower unit was getting tightened up?.......the splines weren't aligned?
 
Never had the opportunity to "dig in" to those components. Before the impeller change everything was good, right? So without digging in deeper, is there any way you can rig something up to strongly pull down, (or push from on top) with slow steady force on that vertical shift rod? I'm gonna take a look at these parts again too.
Its possible the shift shaft got pushed upwards and its top lever is binding, there is very little clearance in there.
 
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Other techs are not responding here, perhaps we could use some help from someone more experienced with this model. I am broadly experienced in much marine work, but a Merc spe******t could surely step in here with detailed advice. If I had your boat here, it would be more simple to evaluate and repair. Keep trying to find answers. I will make some phone calls too. I know some spe******ts on the big Mercs.
 
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