shifting problems

[Gettin Better]

i have a 470 mercruiser. i had it out for the first time this year today, with the ear muffs it shifted just fine but out on the water it got very hard to shift. so hard in fact i had to shut the motor down just to get it to neutral. any suggestions on what could be the problem.

[Gill-T]

Look at the shift cable or shift assist switch.  Also if you set your idle RPMs too high.

[Xxx]

Look at the shift cable or shift assist switch.  Also if you set your idle RPMs too high.

X2

[lakebound88]

Make sure the cables not stretched. If so this will happen. The cable that runs from the drive to the shift tower. When the motor is under load it makes shifting a bit tougher.

Nick

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Xxx]

What exactly is happening,when you say hard to shift, do you mean to pull the lever from let's say forward to neutral while the motor is running, or the shifter moves hard either way? All the above answers are right, but if you can't pull the lever out of gear while the motor is runnung, like LakeBound mentioned it could be the cables stretched I would try by adjusting the cable the goes to the lower unit. You want to shorten that cable but I would be leaning towards the shift interrupter, and that stumbles the motor for a split second to allow the gears to be pulled apart, if this is out of adjustment you won't be able to pull it out of gear under a load, and like you mentioned you needed to kill the motor to pull it out of gear. If you over adjust it the motor will stall in between shifts. Mine didn't have an actual adjustment I just had to bend the little piece of spring steel that activates the switch. Then the other answer about rpm's could be the issue also, should be around 900rpm at an idle and 600 rpm in gear at an idle. If your at 1300 rpm in gear the shift interrupter won't come into play to assist the shift. Just some things to check out before you pull your hair out. LOL.

[Gettin Better]

thanks for the advice, when i get a chance ill try these out. it could take a few days but ill let you know how things work out