fault trying to engage reverse (uk)

[willowkevin]

ive got a 1998 4 stroke yamaha that wont quite select reverse or when it does it jumps out if i give it some revs but apart from that its a lovely motor! so here goes ..... imagine the engine bottom cowling ? its held to the top of the leg with bolts thru damper thingys ?right...this cowling flexes on my engine enough to rock the gear selector rod which also bolts thru the cowling to the top of the leg . the book i'm looking at shows washers and none have been used ,any one still following me ?the bolts are tight but the cowling flexes enough to pull the engine out of gear !! any one any thoughts ????

[jb123]

take off gear cable from helm to motor at motor. put handle in neutral and manually put motor gear in neutral. if the cable end doesnt line up/ fall on the shift linkage, adjust accordingly.

[pitahui]

Stand behind the motor and grap the power head. Now push and pull forward and aft. If you can move the power head, your top engine mount is busted. This can cuase the problem you are describing. I had the same problem.

[willowkevin]

tried rocking powerhead and its ok ! seems i cant push the selector far enough backwards cos of flex on the control rod assembly ,if i disconnect the cables and do it by hand it goes in ok ,but when the cables connected flex allows the bit to inch foward so letting it come out of gear ! tho when foward its ok ?