77 suzuki 7.5 hp HELPPPP

[Dave123]

Hi folks i am a long time watcher and first time poster i have a 77 7.5 hp i bought on Saturday when i first had it in the tank the revers worked good but i finally put it on the boat last night to go for a fish and forward gear works good but i have no reverse. It seem that when its in netural it wants to go forward also. but when i try to put it into reverse the gears seem to grind. I have always had johnson motors and this is the first one i have had from suzuki i am hoping someone out there has has had this same problem. Please help me to try and fix my my motor i have a fishing tournment this weekend...
Thanks

[keakar]

check your shift linkage rod is adjusted properly, if it is then you may have gearbox issues.

take the lower unit off and shift it by hand while turning the prop, if it still has issues then the internal shift linkages need to be inspected if something has come loose or is bent.

since this is a new engine to you there is no way to know if the other tguy did something or put things back together wrong

and just to be safe put a new water pump impeller on after you fix the problem while you are at it

[Dave123]

Can you give me a rough idea how to check to make sure its adjusted properly. I had tryed it in the tank before i ran it and it went into reverse but made a a griding noise before it went in. And thanks so much for the help

[Dave123]

looks like the shifter rod has a slight bend in it towards the top is this suppose to be like this or is it suppose to be stright up and down? does anyone know if its much of a job to get the shifter rod out?

[keakar]

it may be bent like that to have clearance for something or to line up with the linkage better, or that could be your problem. I never saw one that wasn't angled somewhere but you can kinda tell if its bent on purposed because of the clean bends.

to test it you remove the lower unit and with it in your hand or with a vise covered in a folded towel (but not very tightly) you push the shift rod up or down by hand as you turn the prop and you are checking that it goes into gear all the way. the grinding you hear is the gear teeth coming together and touching but not meshing together because its not going all the way into the gear teeth. if its not working by itself then the problem is in the lower unit and not the shift rod or adjustment and if it does work ok then you know its the shift rod or adjustment

[Dave123]

Thanks for the help i have the bottom end off of it now but i cant seem to get it back on and in place i have everthing lined up but when i try to get the bottom end down over the bolts it just donst seem to want to go any further. is there any tricks that i may need to know to put it down in place?

[Solarman]

won't go all the way up on bolts?

Try putting the shift rod in gear before putting back on, then if you hit the same problem turn the prop a little, the shaft splines are possibly the problem.