F - N - R Gear shift issue

[Aaronhl]

So I am helping this guy put a lower unit on his boat it's a V6 150 mid 90s model...I've installed lower units and shift cables on these engine before....I can't understand why I am having this issues it doesnt make sense

With the nub for the shifter cable lined up on the "N" on the slider, the controls only have enough reach to put it in reverse, they do not have enough reach to put it fully in forward

I put a teleflex merc with black end cable on the engine (not the universal style)

I try to position the nub in the middle of the friction on the shift rail and it actually lands about half in-inch forward of "N"...

I must be overlooking something in the few hours I've been there, it's kinda hard not having the boat at my house, with my tools and the time to work on it here...

What do you think is the issue?

Our net step is to drop the lower unit and put the shifter nub lined up with the N before the lower unit goes back on the shift shaft, even though the lower unit was in Neutral I dont think the shift cable nub was lined up with the N.

[David - WI]

I don't think​ you have to remove the lower unit completely, can't you just loosen it enough to allow you to lift the shift shaft out of the spline then drop it back in with the shifter/shift cable in neutral?

[rgsauger]

Call me old school but I always put the shifter in forward and then put the lower unit in forward and I have had better success getting things to line up correctly and be in the right spot that way.

[Aaronhl]

Call me old school but I always put the shifter in forward and then put the lower unit in forward and I have had better success getting things to line up correctly and be in the tight spot that way.

Yes that may work if you already know the controls and shift cable is actually in forward, there is a lot of forward and reverse movement on the slider that could cause it to not match?....seems to me it's always easier to match the lower unit to the shift rod when everything is in neutral??? For a "neutral" I mean that's how I normally do it when I put my lower units on, but again I already know the controls match where the Neutral is on the slider on my boats...I can't believe it's this difficult, im sure ill figure it out but im kinda taking over where the guy left off and it's not the ideal place to be troublshooting an outboard

[25two.stroke]

Honestly I don't understand the issue 100% from your first post, but it seems like you have nuetral and reverse but not enough throw to go into fwd? And with you not being new to this, I can safely assume you know how to adjust the shift cable.
First off, neutral is a perfect place to start if you have no idea where you are at. Meaning you don't know if that lower unit ever shift correctly on the engine that its going on to.
Fwd works for service stuff: just off and back on, always staying in fwd.

First thing I would do is drop the lower all the way off. Then have someone shift the control box through all the gears and watch the cable move in the engine and make sure it has enough throw. Make sure the control box is not busted and halfway shifting. The cams get wore out and then you will never have gears. Also some control boxes have 2 positions you can put the cable in: one with more throw than the other.

Once you determine the control box is moving the cable sufficiently (and you don't accidently have the shift cable and the throttle cable mixed up) move on to the lower unit. Shift it through all gears with a shift shaft while rolling the prop (put a prop on temporarily if there isn't one). Make sure it shifts smooth and doesn't take excessive force to shift. If it does the springs on the clutch actuator could be wore out or a bur somewhere on the shift shaft. If it shifts good and has strong gears then put it in neutral and put the engine in neutral. Look at the splines on the shifter on both sides and make sure they look like they will be aligned. If they do then stuff it, if they don't then you have a problem (bent shift shaft in the mid...other possibilities). If it looks good and goes up into the driveshaft splines then put a tiny amount of tension on the shifter with one lower unit nut, disconnect the shift cable from the engine, and with your fingers move the shifter on the engine no more than a 1/8" either direction and rock it till the shifter falls in. Make sure you are still in neutral.

After that procedure if it still doesn't have gears either the control box is busted and can't make enough throw under a load, or the lower unit is jacked. The shift cam could be in upside-down, backwards, or the clutch worn out etc.

[Aaronhl]

Thank you for your efforts in typing all of that out - Yes it seems like it doesnt have enough throw - I can actually adjust the gear slider forward of neutral a little bit more and then I will get forward but not enouhg throw to get reverse, so seems like we get either one or the other. That's what im thinking the Neutral isn't actually lined up...

I'm kinda inheriting his project he said it shifted fine before he put this engine on and there was merc on it before, but again im just taking his word, the control box is one i havent seen before it might even be from the 70s or 80s...Seems to me I am on the right track in trying to get this fixed for him, Id hate to bail on him because it doesn't seem tough I just dont know what im missing, again isn't eveyrthing eaier in your own garage

I might help him drop the lower unit and realign the shift shaft in a week or so so well see how that goes...

It doesnt help that he lost the cups for the black adjustable knobs on the cable, that might be causing it to move in ways we dont need

[25two.stroke]

Make sure fwd is fwd and reverse is reverse
If the shift cam spins out of its pocket accidentally when you have the lower off it will do exactly what you are saying but the gears will be reversed when you shift the typical direction.

[rock]

Make sure the control box is not busted and halfway shifting. The cams get wore out and then you will never have gears. Also some control boxes have 2 positions you can put the cable in: one with more throw than the other.

This cost me a couple days once. Never had a control box fail in such a manner.

Rock

[Aaronhl]

Good points - I can shift through the gears very smoothly by hand when moving the slider on the engine, pretty sure forward is forward and reverse is reverse,

If I can get the shift shaft to line up with the N on the engine and we still cant get another throw/movement,

As you guys pointed out, the controls might be busted and it might be a good time to upgrade them... and he will want me to install those for him, not sure if I have the time for that haha

I usually make by with my own old busted up stuff but I can def see somethings are "rigged" on his boat, guess that shouldn't surprise me this is so challenging...

[Glastron1987]

Seems like your father should have taught you about these things. In any case if it shifts OK by hand and seems to line up properly F-N-R, then it's a control or cable issue more than likely.

[David - WI]

The guy should know if it shifted OK before he took it apart? If so, then it's probably just off by one spline.

[Aaronhl]

Today I was able to get his engine shifted in F N and R, I gave him the missing plastic cable barrel spacer and that allowed me to adjust the cable the right way. Without the barrel spacer "cup thing" there was too much movement in the cable, it couldnt be adjusted it correctly without the cup. We didn't have to take the lower unit off because I started with making sure it was in neutral and finding the neutral on the engine slider by feeling the "resistance" then set the shift cable from there, simple to adjust the shift cable once we had that cup thing in there

Last week we put in a new shift cable which is the traditional merc style with the black barrel you can spin for adjustments. He had a silver and red one in there before that seemed hard to adjust because it had some metal clips, not sure how those are used to make minor adjustments as it seems like only 3 settings on those ?

[25two.stroke]

That's a 33c style (universal) control cable. You adjust them at the very end of the cable where the ring terminal threads onto the cable. That red universal adapter is so fat it doesn't fit in some mercury cable brackets. I'm not a fan but sometimes you gotta use them.

[Aaronhl]

That's a 33c style (universal) control cable. You adjust them at the very end of the cable where the ring terminal threads onto the cable. That red universal adapter is so fat it doesn't fit in some mercury cable brackets. I'm not a fan but sometimes you gotta use them.

Ah yes universal ....I tried to adjust the universal cable by spinning the end of it (not the barrel) but it didn't seem to have enough length to find neutral...