No reverse 90 2stroke

[Chrisjudge]

So. New to me 1997 90 2 stroke. Forward ok. Hard to get into neutral. Reverse sounds like a spinning metal close to stationary metal.. Diagnosis steps?

[ausnoelm]

Probably best first steps are..remove motor cover and have someone operate the gear lever while you observe operation at engine end (motor not running) then disconnect cable at motor end and move lever on motor by hand to see if it fully engages.

[Chrisjudge]

Next steps

Made sure the cable was sliding all the way back. It was. Anything else besides a lower unit rebuild?

[99yam40]

something bent or broke, need to take apart and inspect.
drop lower unit to start out with and see if you can shift it by turning the shaft going into the lower unit
could be in the upper shift mechanism or inside the lower unit

[robert graham]

Drain lower unit lubricant and inspect for metal pieces, water, debris, etc.....

[Chrisjudge]

Update

Drained lower unit. Oil was light brown. Bottom screw covered in metal shavings. No change will new oil . Prop spins backward when in reverse with a grinding noise and minimal reverse thrust. Bad lower unit?

[ausnoelm]

Before going too crazy, have you disconnected the cable at the motor end and moved the lever by hand yet?

[pstephens46]

Covered in metal shavings is not good. I never found but a few tiny specks on mine in 5 years.

[Chrisjudge]

Update

I did disconnect cable at motor end.

Am I checking to see if it will shift with out the cable? If so I will try that next..

Am I checking for operation in reverse or if it is hard to shift?

[ausnoelm]

Just a quick and simple test to make sure the problem is not in the gear case, you need to move the gear lever, on the motor by hand with no cable, if it goes into gear fully, then you have a cable, adjustment or control problem.

[Chrisjudge]

Did the test. Removed the shifter cable. Slide the lever all the way back and it is acting the sample.

[panasonic]

Did the test. Removed the shifter cable. Slide the lever all the way back and it is acting the sample.

May be your dog clutch in the lower unit buggered. Here is a video that shows how a basic lower unit works...may help with your investigations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_A5OXC8p4s

and


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYPuB9nmS8E

[99yam40]

I beleive these lower units are spring loaded into forward, so you have to overcome that spring to get to neutral and reverse.
if things get bent the shift does not work well.
I posted some pics of a C60 twisted shift shaft awhile back it also had a bent pin that went thru the prop shaft.
As I said before you need to drop the lower and inspect what you can. then open up the lower if needed
Here is a link to the thread I posted about the C60
http://www.yamahaoutboardparts.com/f...g-th25042.html

and here is that pic

[Tony Harper]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but these engines can have a habit of corroding the shift shaft at/near where the shift shaft is exposed coming out of the steering pivot, just before it connects to the lower unit, this corrosion can usually be seen just up in the steering pivot covered area, you have to look up/in where it is just about to exit the steering pivot shaft, if it is corroded thee, what happens is the shift shaft will "twist" when gearshift handle is operated n the gearbox will not select reverse properly due to the resistance of the spring in the shifter (clutch dog) causing the corroded shift shaft to twist on the upper side of corrosion but not enough rotataion on the lowervsid of the shift shaft. If this has occurred, then the powerhead needs to be removed n then replace the shift shaft rod assay.

[Chrisjudge]

Update

Thanks everyone. I am going to focus on the shift shaft and get some photos.