Shipyard Isl. Marine Engine Parts - Did I pop a gear?

Hello SIM,

I have a issue. Last night we were boating and my "over heating buzzer" went off as there was alot of seaweed in the area, so I brought the boat to a stop (idle RPMS) and went to go in reverse and its like the gears are just about to engage but they just make a grinding noise, not too loud but you can hear it and the engine just revs. Now whats weird is that the throttle position on the controller has also changed position and neutral is now lower than centered on the controller. What do you think I should look at to see what I need to order?

Thanks so much, you have helped me out in the past once already and appreciated it. Thanks

What engine model is it?

Andy

Hello Andy. Its a 1995 c85tlr

Could be a couple of things, neither which are easy fixes. If neutral moved on the control, and the handle is still easy physically to move(not a cable problem then), I would guess either somethings wrong with the shift rod or clutch dog in the gear case, or the shift rod coming from under the powerhead down to the lower unit, as in its twisted. Not sure on that engine if it has the steel shift rod under the powerhead. In salt applications those will rust out and actually twist or flat out break. Either way it screws up the shift alignment which you see in the control handle movement.

I would start by removing the top cowling and removing the control shift cable there. Then, move the shift mechanism by hand.............carefully with the engine running. Find neutral....it should be in the center of the total movement. Then go to forward, back to neutral, then reverse. Does it go into both gears easily or does it grind in reverse still? If it still grinds, then its one of the 2 problems I previously mentioned.

From there, I would drop the lower unit and look up into that section at the shift rod going up into the powerhead. Check for damage as I mentioned ^^.

Andy

Thanks Andy for the detailed response.

I will be pulling the boat tomorrow out of the water. I did however check a couple things. And that rod that is under the power head that goes into the lower unit, where it is exposed close to the lower unit is rusted out bad, like IF half the size it should be. I am thinking and hoping that is the problem. I have a friend coming over this week to take a look at it also as he knows way more than me about this stuff.

Again, thanks for your help. We will pinpoint the problem in a couple days and than see what needs to be ordered.

Thanks Andy,
Mike