Anybody know Mercury outboards?

[IcutMetl]

Thought I'd post on here for craps and grins...anybody out there familiar with Mercury outboard engines? More specifically, the 2.5 liter 150-200hp carb engines? Having probs with my shifting mechanism in the lower unit gearcase.

Thanks!

[xrxmxcx]

When you say shifting mechanism what are you referring to?

Have you pulled the L/U and what was the problem to begin with?

[IcutMetl]

Thanks for the reply.

The problem to begin with was unrelating to shift issues; it shifted rather nicely. I think I had a gasket go bad inbetween the lower half of the waterpump housing and the case, letting some water into the oil and "milk" leak out. Caught it before it was too bad.

I pulled the l/u to replace bearings, seals, and water pump guts. Went back together well, everything feels nice and smooth/tight, but when I try to rotate the shift shaft, it will only engage in a counterclockwise direction (reverse?). It will not 'pop' into gear when rotated clockwise(forward?).

I removed the shift shaft, prop shaft & bearing carrier. The shift engagement mechanism on the end of the prop shaft engages freely by hand one way or the other, and when the shift "pawl" is placed back into its pocket on the end of the prop shaft and inserted thru the gear and back into the case, it fits freely. The splined shift shaft slides back into place without hesitation.

I've done this twice with the same outcome both times. Any idea where I'm going wrong?

[xrxmxcx]

Are you trying to put it in gear while it is off of the motor?

[IcutMetl]

Yes; I initially tried re-installing the outdrive on the boat- both the shift shaft and prop shaft splines slid right in and the outdrive bolted up fine (I've had it off changing water pump before). I went up to test the operation with the shifter/throttle, and noticed it was nearly impossible to engage in forward, and felt better yet slightly different putting it into reverse. This was with the engine off, of course.

So, I finally got to taking the outdrive off and have it hanging off my workbench and am trying to shift it off the boat.

[xrxmxcx]

Now that the lower unit is off of the motor, try and rotate the PROP shaft (NOT the driveshaft) COUNTER clockwise while trying to move the shift shaft clockwise and see if it will pop into forward.

[IcutMetl]

I just tried it again...prop shaft spins very smoothly. Twisting prop shaft both counterclockwise and clockwise while trying to engage shift shaft clockwise does nothing. Spinning prop shaft while engaging shift shaft counterclockwise- pops right into gear.