Reverse gear chatter

[chukarcommando]

Question,

I recently changed the impellar on my T8 outboard. Everything went ok and the motor runs fine. There is one problem. It seems to chatter a bit when I shift into reverse sometimes. I have to shove back harder on the shift handle to get it to fully engage in reverse. I'm guessing that the shift linkage is not set right. I tried to put it back in the same place and never had this problem before. Do I want to move that little nut on the linkage "up" so it lets that rod push the shift linkage down farther, or, do I have it adjusted to far "up" and need to move it "down" because the linkage is going passed whatever locks it in gear?

[boats.net]

Yes it sounds like the shift shaft is not on right, need to reset it to get neutral position aligned back up.

[chukarcommando]

Thanks for the reply. How do you reset the neutral position? I've looked at other yamaha 8 hp's and it looks like I have about the same amount of threads on that connector showing, but it still seems to chatter when I flip it into reverse. I did notice that when I throw it into forward (with the motor off of course) the propeller locks into gear. When I put it into neutral, it spins either way freely. When I flip it into reverse, the prop catchs/clicks a little until I really shove back on the handle, then it locks into gear. Do I need to diconnect the nut/linkage and move the part that goes into the lower case (with the threads on) to a certin position before I re-attach the upper portion?