Outboard is popping out of reverse

[h8go4s]

I have a 1998 40HP Tracker (Mercury) tiller that now won't stay in reverse unless I hold the shift lever back. I discovered today that if I force the shift lever past the reverse detent it won't pop out. The neutral position also seems to be farther back than it should be. I wondered if the detent is worn, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I took a look under the hood, and there's a threaded rod that can be disconnected from the shift lever to adjust the shift position, but I'm wondering if there's a deeper problem than that. Also, if I adjust that to fix the reverse problem, might I then have trouble with it popping out of forward? That would not be good at full throttle.

Ron

[boatfixer]

Its hard to say for sure. I rarely find those out of adjustment, but I have. Best thing to do would be to disconnect the linkage and find nominal neutral on both and see if you are still lined up.

[Ed Carlson]

I had a motor that would wonder out of adjustment....F/R....I thought so anyhow. I had banged into my share of snags so stuff gets pushed out of adjustment....is what I thought anyhow.

It would need periodic adjustment to the cable to keep it centered so it would stay in reverse. But latter on, I found out the hard way, it was a worn and or bent pin in the shift dog that let loose under full roar up river, and dropped into the gears...BANG....there went the crank shaft....and most of the lower units guts...."DOHE!". Turned out to be a very costly kinda deal. But if I had caught it sooner, it would have just been a few bucks.

So if it appears to be oddly out of adjustment I would strongly suggest getting the lower unit looked at before something simple lets loose, and something far larger results.

[h8go4s]

Thanks for the advice. I took a closer look yesterday and the pivot for the shift lever looked a little loose. It's a pin with a Nylok nut on the top which I tightened up a couple of turns. Now the lever stays in the detents much better. I think that was the problem. I won't have a chance to dump it in the lake until later this week, but if it's fixed, I'll stop at the hardware store and get a new locknut. That should last me for another 12 years.

Ron