Reverse Gate bushings and stiff throttle

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Tenner

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I have a mid 90s 200hp Mercury on a 2072 fisher. When the motor is off I can shift from N to F no problem. When the motor is at idle in N it will go into reverse (my last boat would creep Forward). It’s very stiff to go from N to F when the boat is idling. Once I’m in F it is smooth. Just that initial shift. I have done all the adjustments I can at the gate, but I’m thinking my bushings are worn out. In N the gate will flop around a little bit. It’s not stiff. Will this cause the stiff shifting?

I’m thinking that the water is lifting the gate a little at idle and then I am fighting the water to shift forward.

I was going to take the gate off and go run it to see if it was still stiff to eliminate anything issue in the the control box. Any other ideas?

Thanks.


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How high is the idle on the motor? If it's pushing too much water, it can make it difficult to move the gate. It sounds like you might need to make some more adjustments to cheat the gate forward a little at idle so it's not as tough to get past that notch. My boat is not here at the house right now so if I get a chance to go out today (weather permitting) I'll look at my neutral setting. If the gate moves fine without the motor running, it's most likely not a problem with the cable. I've had seized up cables that I was able to get WD40 down into to free them up but they were really locked up to begin with. Double check your cable to make sure there isn't a weak spot or cut somewhere on the outside that could absorb some of the energy while trying to shift.

Here's a picture I found of my setting in neutral. Mine actually tends to creep backwards slightly while at idle in neutral.
 

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Thanks for the reply. My cable is brand new so that’s ok. The idle is about normal. I have played with it a bit. I’ll take a pic of my gate this weekend. Let me ask this...does your gate rattle around or is it sloppy wiggling it with your hand or solid and stiff?


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I should be stopping by the boat today so I'll try to remember to check it.

I checked the motor today and the reverse gate has a little play but it doesn't really rattle so I would say it's more tight than loose. I watched the bushing as I moved the gate and it was nice and clean and turning freely as I moved the gate. It needs to spin freely to get smooth movement so check to see if your bushing has resistance to spinning. Maybe try spraying some WD40 to make sure it moves easily.

I went out in the boat and there is more resistance shifting into forward than reverse, but the gate has to move more to clear for forward vs minimal movement to get into reverse.
 

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