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I was taking a last cruise today before pulling my boat tomorrow and when I came into the dock, I put the boat into reverse and gave it a little throttle. The gears started slipping so I put it in neutral. When I went to go into reverse again, the gears slipped alot and I couldnt get it to go into reverse. Luckily I made it into the dock alright but I'm not sure what to do.
In the past, when I have been in reverse, I have heard the gears slip momentarily when I gave it some throttle to clear out seaweed. The only real difference today was that it was colder...about 55 degrees.
This just happened to me on my 83 mariner. Thought the gear case was messed up, but actually just ended up being a loose bolt on a pivot in the shift linkage causing it to slip and not actually engage reverse all the way.
So check all the simple stuff like shift cable and linkage before tearing into your lower unit.
Sound's like a possible shift cable failure ( stretched, kinked, etc.), as suggested above, I would check to see if the shift lever on the motor work's by "Hand", with the cable disconnected. The clicking sound you hear is the reverse gear not fully locking into reverse.
Thank you everyone for the quick replies. I went down this morning and adjusted the shift cable and its shifting into reverse without any problems. Needless to say, I love Whaler Central.
Unfortunately I have now pulled the boat for the season and am in the process of cleaning it and getting it ready for winter...blech. I cant wait for spring.
