1998 90 HP Reverse Lost without warning

Last week, I was in Michigan;s Upper Penninsula. On a chain of lakes, I traveled at idle speed over a shallow spot. Seeing that I was going to ground, I went into reverse and backed up. That was the last time that the reverse worked. The motor was tilted up when I did this and did not panic rev it into reverse. It is possible that the prop hit bottom while in reverse, but I do not know. I tried manually moving the linkage with the cable disconnected, but it stops about 1/2 inch before it reaches the back of the greased track that the cable terminal rests in. Forward and neutral are no problem.

Also of note, there is now some movement in the enitre upper cover and powerhead cowling. I see no movement on the transom castings or tilt pivots. Is it possible that a motor mount bushing went and it is causing some misalignment with the the shifting rod to the lower unit? If so, where are those things located? I have looked on the diagrams on the parts section of this site.

If this looks to be something that is going to take some shop work, can anyone recommend repair facility near Kalamazoo, Michigan?

Thanks

[boats.net]

If the upper motor mounts are broke then it may have bent the shift shaft.

Yep, that was it. Thanks for the quick response

Reverse lost --revisited

Hold Everything. I just heard from the shop. They are telling me that the motor will not go int reverse at all, but have not opened up the lower unit, but it is off. They are recommending a remanufactured L/U for 1700.00 in addition to the 1400.00 for the motor mounts.

It is a 1998 that spent some time in salt water. It is now in freshwater, but the shop is saying that they are breaking stuff left and right as they remove the powerhead to get to the mount. They expect the same trouble on the lower unit, which is why they are recommending the remanufactured one.

Is it time to jump ship on this motor?