4HP Yamaha kicker motor - hard to shift

Hi all! Figured out what was going on with the 75HP Force and now I have to ask a question about my kicker motor. It is a Yamaha, 1990, 4HP in good shape. Only repair I have done on it was last summer - was not showing a strong stream out of the pee hole and it was hot so I took it apart, cleaned out a ton of sand and small shells (from previous owner running into sand bars), replaced a couple gaskets and a water pump and ran real well, strong pee and water just luke warm.

It has F-N-R shifting (small lever on side of hood) - there is a lubricating fitting for the steering swivel shaft and the shifter arm (where it resides under the power head) - I have greased these but the motor shifts really hard - I do not think it is a lower unit problem - I think it is in the linkage

QUESTION - when I took it apart and reassembled the lower unit (to get to the water pump) you have to separate the 2 piece rod/shifter linkage - could I have not put the clamp back in the right position and now it is binding slightly??

Appreciate if anyone has had this problem - I am thinking of opening the side hole and unscrewing the linkage to see if it was under too much tension in the N position

If it was shifting fine before you took it apart then I would think something didn't go back together right. The shift rod is probably binding up on something. If you can't figure it out by messing with it then take it apart and start over.

found another owner of a 4HP Yamaha and he said he also had a hard to shift lever

his solution was to drill a small hole in the lever housing (from inside the hood) to allow oiling of the horizontal shifting lever rod

since there is no easy way to grease or oil the rod this sounds like a solution PLUS it worked for him

just wanted to post/share with others

thanks!

PS - here is a pic of our beauty (OK, at least it floats)

Make sure you push the clutch all the way in. #-o