# Mercury 9.9 drive won't engage



## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Hey gang. Have a 9.9 Merc with console throttle shift (not tiller) that won't engage when place in forward or reverse gear. The motor starts and runs fine but when you push the shifter forward or backward there is no customary "click" and the prop barely spins. It ran fine one morning and after shutting it off and operating the trolling motor I started it up and went to put it in forward and... nothing. 

Any idea what could be going on here?


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Troubleshooting: 

Popped the cowl and shifted forward and reverse and all the linkage appears to be working near the motor. As for the lower unit I haven't a clue what's going on down there.

Also, I put the motor in gear with the engine off and the prop spins freely forward and reverse.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Check the shift shaft - runs vertically from linkage connection, through the bottom cowl on its way to the lower unit. If still properly connected, it will move up & down as you shift to forward or reverse.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

cincinnati said:


> Check the shift shaft - runs vertically from linkage connection, through the bottom cowl on its way to the lower unit. If still properly connected, it will move up & down as you shift to forward or reverse.


Thanks, Cin. I assume you're referring to the part shown in the image below. It does not move up and down when I move the shifter forward and back. I can, however, manually engage shaft by ripping that plastic piece affixed to the shaft and lifting that up and down. Upon doing so it "clicks" like it is going into gear. 

The linkage connection to that shaft is buried deep in the lower cowl. So much so I can't tell if it's separated. Any pointers as to what I should be looking for to identify a disconnection or break of some sort?


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

You're hot on the trail!

Now you need to find, what my parts manual confusingly calls, the "horizontal shift shaft." Connected to all your throttle/shift apparatus on the starboard (right) side of your outboard. Mounted through a casting in the block assembly & passes under the front (carburetor) of the motor in the lower cowl, ending @ the shift shaft in your pic. The "horizontal shift shaft" has a yoke which straddles the shift shaft & accepts a connecting device to hold the 2 together. The connecting device will have a c-clip to secure the whole mess.

The best view of the shift shaft(s) connection is from the port(left) side of your motor. My guess is that you look under there, while your faithful assistant operates the shifter, & you'll see the horizontal SS yoke flipping up & down w/no effect on the vertical shift shaft. Your c-clip & connector are sleeping w/the fishes.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Very good info C.
Think I would start by diagnosing more where the issue is at...IE whether problem is at the engine or from the cable back towards the shifter.
Remove engine cowling.
You'll see both your throttle and shift cables.
Eliminate throttle cable by following it back to where it connects to carb linkages.
Now that you know which is the shift cable, follow it back to where it attaches to a linkage/arm. That linkage/arm when either pushed or pulled operates what C is referring to the horizontal shaft.
Disconnect shift cable where it attaches at the linkage/arm.
At this point, grabbing the linkage/arm(and with shift cable disconnected) try engaging in both forward and reverse gears. If it shifts ok, obviously you know your issue is not from the linkage/arm on down to the bottom of the engine.
Your issue is then from the cable back towards the shifter. If that's the case:
1)check cable adjustments
2)check and insure wherever cable is supposed to be bolted down by fasteners routed all the way back towards shifter that the cable has not come out of hold down allowing cable to flex
3)check where actual cable attaches at shifter controls
4)check shifter for worn linkage holes and bushings.
Lastly:
If all looks good and you can't get the proper cable adjustment to select both forward/reverse, you may have a stretched cable and cable will have to be replaced


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

sometimes the set screw on the plastic end comes loose and the wire just moves back and forth inside the plastic end. I would take the cable loose from the motor and make sure its tight and not just slipping. the have someone shift the controls while checking to make sure the end is moving. i've had this happen on some older outboards. and check the stuff that fastwater listed. if the shift rod isn't moving its probably not in the lower unit. I would say its either in the cable or the dogs on the shift rod. check them out.
sherman


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Bingo. You guys are good. The first image is port side view looking into the moto where the horizontal linkage (on starboard side) meets the vertical shift shaft. As you can see in background not foreground, no C-clip nor connector. The second image is with the vertical shift shaft manually lifted up (presumably forward gear). Pretty confident there lies the problem.

Cin, there is a small opening the shaft travels through in the bottom cowl. It large enough for small parts to pass through and therefore a change the parts are sitting at the bottom of the lake. 

Now for the payoff, is this any sort of repair I want to try myself or should I drop it off at the marina? Looks like a fair amount of parts need to be removed on both sides of the motor to access the missing link


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Yep, there it isn't!

I have 25 & 9.9 tillers, both w/the same connection. Have never done that work on the 9.9 but several times on the 25, in order to drop the lower unit for seals or impeller replacement. Your pic shows some "clutter" in the foreground that the 25 does not have, but I have always removed/replaced w/long needlenose pliers & an uncharacteristically steady hand. 

The parts will be fairly cheap, if it's possible to say "cheap" & "boat parts" in the same breath. If it was me, I'd (re)move the minimum, in order to clear the approach, & try it myself. Before you purchase parts, search the lower cowl to be certain that you're not going to be freakishly lucky. And have a magnetic, small parts retriever on standby, in case your hand betrays you....several times.

If you succeed, you'll have a real feeling of accomplishment. If you don't, you can always fall back on your credit card & marina shop labor.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Good call on the c-clip/connector C.


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## Timjim (May 15, 2011)

if you remove the starter the shift connector is a lot easier to get to. the starter is easy to remove


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Timjim said:


> if you remove the starter the shift connector is a lot easier to get to. the starter is easy to remove


Yep...make sure and disconnect positive battery cable before removing starter.


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