ok ...I added a helper spring to get the idle to return back down to +-
750rpm...working well so far. I did this on land...my next stp is to
take it in the water and see if that effects the "going in to neutral"

I just don't understand why it works fine on land taking in/out of
gear, but when it gets in the water, even if I am not moving, (tied to
the dock) it doesn't always go from fwd to neutal....almost like
something to do with the electrical components and being grounded out
by the water? (have not gotten a chance to try in reverse yet)

another work week ...can't touch it till Saturday.

Thanks

more messing with it...found the shift interrupter switch...seems that
when I go in/out of gear, it only moves maybe 1/16 of an inch; or

from here to there (four spaces on the keyboard). the button is
not pushing down far at all. from the worn area in the cradle where the
button is, seems to have never gone much further than that. It looks
like it wants to work because i can manually push it up and down with
my finger until completely pushed down ...no problem. Not sure how far
it is supposed to move up or down.

Thanks again all

From everything you have said we can conclude the switch is working. You can
test it, if you want to, with an ohmmeter or you can gently push down on the
switch with the engine running. You will find that it doesn't take much
movement for the switch to stall the engine. The next thing you should do is
buy a manual for the engine and one for the sterndrive. You will find the
Mercruiser manuals a lot easier to read than the Clymer or Seloc versions.
You probably already know this, but I'll remind you anyway. If you run the
engine out of the water you need to feed water to the engine via a garden
hose and ear muffs.
Jim
"Scott" wrote in message
ups.com...
more messing with it...found the shift interrupter switch...seems that
when I go in/out of gear, it only moves maybe 1/16 of an inch; or

from here to there (four spaces on the keyboard). the button is
not pushing down far at all. from the worn area in the cradle where the
button is, seems to have never gone much further than that. It looks
like it wants to work because i can manually push it up and down with
my finger until completely pushed down ...no problem. Not sure how far
it is supposed to move up or down.

Thanks again all

I looked for related posts on this subject and didn't find any, so if I'm
repeating something already said, just ignore it.

750 Rpm's is a typical idle speed. At the engine where the shift cable
connects is a mechanism that rocks as shifting is done. It trips a micro
switch and kills the engine for just an instant and thus takes the power off
of the gears and allows shifting to occur. The gear dogs are cut at a
slight angle so as to pull them into their mating slots and help hold into
forward or reverse when under way. With the slightest power, they are
holding tight. When the microswitch closes and kills the engine momentarily
this power is removed.

The most common cause of this difficulty is the shift cable that runs from
this mechanism down to the lower unit. This cable is about 18" long. It
becomes wet and sticky thus does not operate smoothly and hence the micro
switch arrangement does not do it's job.

Don Dando



wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks again....

I will try it this weekend at the dock, it may be the idle...

again, I do not have the manual so don't know the specs of what the
idle should be...so the help you guys provide (or agree upon) is my
manual. I will idle it down to 600rpm on land and then take it to the
water as my first step to a "cheaper" resolution.

thanks

Scott

It works on land because there is no load on the prop. The gears are cut so
that a load forces them to stay in gear. The prop pushing aganst the water
create a load even at idle. Reverse and forward both work the same way,
intterupter switch stalls the motor to remove the load letting the gears
come apart easier. You need to push the intterupter switch with your finger
while the motor is running to make sure it kills the motor. If it does then
it needs adjusting.

wrote in message
oups.com...
ok ...I added a helper spring to get the idle to return back down to +-
750rpm...working well so far. I did this on land...my next stp is to
take it in the water and see if that effects the "going in to neutral"

I just don't understand why it works fine on land taking in/out of
gear, but when it gets in the water, even if I am not moving, (tied to
the dock) it doesn't always go from fwd to neutal....almost like
something to do with the electrical components and being grounded out
by the water? (have not gotten a chance to try in reverse yet)

another work week ...can't touch it till Saturday.

Thanks

that makes sense...thanks James and all! I will let you know the
outcome if it will ever friggin warm up!