CONTINUOUSWAVE

Good day. I bought my first boat last summer, a 1994 MONTAUK 17. After the season i decided to change all the oils and impellers in my engine.

Snag: my 1996 Mercury seems to be in gear all the time and any input on the control does not change anything. It starts fine and runs perfectly.

What did I forget or miss?

I did not put the control lever in forward position before starting the work.

Anyone can help?

Thanks--Franky

Mercury what? 1996 doesn't tell us anything.
What HP, 2-stroke or 4 cycle.
What type of throttle control do you have?.
I believe you can't start an outboard when in gear.
Do you think it is in gear because the prop turns slightly around or does it push the boat immediately?.
Do you have reverse?

Your shift shaft alignment moved when you had the lower unit removed and you need to realign. I do not have the install instructions, but you need to repeat the process and follow the Merc shop manual for shift shaft alignment.

D-

Somehow the small 3/4" splined gear shift rod got moved while the gearcase was off the motor or while putting it back on. This happens a lot until you figure out how to defeat that. Get a small pair of "needle nose" type vise grip pliers. Put the splined shaft in the "neutral" position and attach the vise grips with a light pinch to the base of the spline. This lets you control the spline shaft until it is engaged with the rod in the mid case. Once the spline shaft is engaged properly you can undo the vise grips and bolt up the lower unit.

Its a 75hp, 2 strokes.
I didnt get it in the water but the prop is turning. Not like in neutral turning.
I might have move that little spline. But not 15 rotationed!?

So how do you know when its aligned properly?
There is no ref marks or anything.

F.

Any link to that shop manual?

F.

Franky wrote:[Is there a] link to that shop manual?

Generally you have to purchase the shop manual. I don't have a link to a seller or source. Try searching. Call your local Mercury Marine dealer and ask him if the manual is still available and the price.

If you plan to perform your own service and repairs on an outboard engine that you own, buying a original OEM service manual will be a smart invest.

As you have already discovered, working on an outboard engine without having the factory service manual tends to lead to more problems that it solves. Unless you enjoy re-doing things two or three times to get the work done correctly by trial and error, a factory service manual is a big time saver.

If you were looking for a link where you can get a free digital copy, I doubt there is one. The shop manuals for older engines were created before digital document publishing. Also the manufacturers generally do not give away free digital copies of literature they still sell in printed form.

When I did my impeller change, I used vice grips as fno mentioned to keep the vertical shift rod in same position when I was working on the impeller change. My service manual for my motor, 1973 50 hp Evinrude, says "Vertical shift rod top end slants aft. (in-ward to drive drive shaft) Shift rod must slant in this position on reassembly of gearcase to exhaust housing." As Jimh said, probably best to get a service/shop manual.

Yeah I suppose I should.
After all I read, i figured I could do it myself.
I didn't see anything about that alignment before I did the work.

Thanks for all the response.
Great forum.
I like it and my whaler.

F.

Drop the lower unit again. Put your shift lever in Neutral and take a pair if vise grips and turn the shift shaft coming up out of lower unit until it is in Neutral. THe propeller will spin free by hand. Fit the lower unit back up without the shaft splines changing position.

Easy-peezy.

I have owned Evinrude and Mercury two-stroke-power-cycle engines and a Honda four-stroke-power-cycle engine, and all those engines were very different in how their gear case was removed and replaced. For this job a shop manual would be very helpful, and also for lots of things. I found my Honda shop manual on-line for free. You as well may find your shop manual if you look. I bought the paper manual since it’s much better when working on something to have pages to refer to than trying to find and see things on a computer screen.