F250 doesn't go in gear

[Xari2009]

New boat to me just delivered. 29' Hydra-Sports purchased from East Coast Flightcraft in Middleton Ma. First let me say the dealer, Dan Lemieux, is a first class guy and a pleasure to deal with.

Long story short ! I back my boat off the trailer and realize only one engine is pulling. Both engines are running but the starboard prop is not turning. I removed the cowl and checked the cable and linkage. All connections are OK and working properly. However the starboard engine stays in neutral. I ran the 5 miles to my home and put the boat on my lift. Putting the control in either forward or reverse has no effect on the prop engaging. There is no noise, the prop turns freely by hand. The gear oil was just changed at the time of the survey and was clean, no metal or water. Long time boater but this is my first with outboards.

I hope someone has some idea what my problem might be.

Thanks

[99yam40]

Not sure why you would not have put it right back on the trailer and taken it back to the guys that did the work instead of traveling 5 mile on just one motor.

Something is not be attached properly or they may have done something to the shifter inside lower unit.

Have you looked at the linkage while moving the controls?

[Xari2009]

give it back ?

The boat just came from Mass and I'm in SW Florida - send it back - no problem

Both the dealer and I agree that a fix what ever the cost is cheaper than shipping the boat 1500 miles up and 1500 back. In fact the discussion never came up. I'll pass your idea on to him. In any event thanks for the response

[erniefish]

It may be simple, shift shaft miss - alignement , however that usually shows itself pretty quickly, maybe they dropped lower unit, changed water pump ,put back on , and nobody checked to see if it went in gear , let us know

[rodbolt17]

The missed shift shaft would be my guess as well.
it can happen when the water pump is done.
other than that, if the linkage under the hood is moving and its not shifting something in the case broke.

time to drop the case,manually shift it and reinstall it.

[FabricGATOR]

Disconnect cable

I would disconnect the cable at the engine and move the control arm by hand .
I could probably feel if it was moving freely. If there felt like there was a position detent or travel stop. You may turn the prop by hand (or foot) to feel for any engagement whatsoever.

I'd bet a dollar Rod hit it directly on the head. Missed the coupling when reinstalling the lower... but I would think you would probably have to work pretty hard miss it intentionally. Meaning that it should be pretty tough to move the linkage rod that far out of position that it didn't align, but I'm not experienced with that model.