Yamaha F60 only has forward gear

[lovehatemyboat]

My motor is a Yamaha F60TLRD. I recently pulled my LU to rebuild the water pump. When I reinstalled the LU and fired it up, my water pump works great but now the motor is stuck in forward.
Pulled the LU off again and have manually manipulated the gear select spline on the LU. (Using the gear selector at the helm seems to work, it moves the gear select shaft about 1/8 to 1/4 inch clockwise/counter clockwise respectively.) I can feel 3 distinct points when turning the spline, but no matter the position, the drive shaft is engaged in forward.
If I use a pliers and rotate the spline to the extreme in either direction it will slip into neutral. Once I let go it slides back into forward. I replaced the gear oil last spring, and just drained it last night. No metal shavings on the plug and didn't smell burnt. From what I have researched, it seems the dog clutch is not disengaging for some reason.

This is my first time working on a LU on an outboard, it seemed pretty straight forward, but now I am stumped. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[rodbolt17]

the detent is hard to find but it is there. no detent for fwd or rev but there is a N detent on the shift cam.
rotate the prop shaft while trying to find it. typically the shift shaft can rotate 360* but will only hit the detent in one spot.

[lovehatemyboat]

rodbolt17, I can feel a definite detent in the "middle" position, I can then manipulate the spine CW or CCW 1/4 to 1/2 inch each way. You say that the shaft can be rotated 360*? CW or CCW? Or does it spin either direction? Like I said before, spinning it past the furthest CW or CCW position it starts to slip into neutral, but there is a lot of resistance. I'm afraid I'm going to break the shaft. Please confirm that the gear select shaft can spin 360*. Thanks for the quick reply. Edit: I also forgot to mention that when I manipulate the gear select spline I can hear what sounds like something moving back and forth in the area where the clutch dog would be inside the LU.

[boscoe99]

The shift rod on the lower unit will not rotate 360 degrees. Maybe 30 degrees or so I am guessing.

When trying to turn the shift rod with pliers (hope the jaws are padded) rotate the propeller shaft at the same time. It will ease the lower unit shifting into gear. Try it one way first and the the next way second. Find the mid point position and leave it there. See if the propeller will turn freely in both directions. The LU is now in neutral. Put the throttle handle in the neutral position and then bolt the lower unit to the mid section.

Job done.

[lovehatemyboat]

boscoe99, I was smart enough to pad the jaws . So, I've slowly rotated the shift shaft through the whole 30* while turning the prop shaft. It still won't disengage from forward. As I said before, If I force it the extreme one way or the other it will slip into neutral. When I do that the shift shaft becomes lose and spins freely throughout the 30*. I've tried moving the shift shaft to the neutral (middle) position and then continuing to spin the prop shaft.. it slips back into gear. Am I on the right track? and just need to get it lined up just right? I'd rather fix this myself then drive 2 hours and pay too much.. I really appreciate the advice you guys are providing, at least I feel like I'm still making progress! Let me know what you think. I feel like I've got some really odd-ball issue.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Try turning the vertical, main drive shaft while playing with the shifter shaft too. If you have a helper, do both(turning the prop shaft forward and the drive shaft in the correct direction)

[rodbolt17]

trust me, there is or was a detent on the shift cam.
the shift plunger is pinned to the shift clutch and is spring loaded for fwd gear.
to get N it must push back against the spring.
must push harder for R.
there is NO mechanical link attaching the shift cam to the plunger like some larger motors.
that shift shaft will spin almost 360*.

[lovehatemyboat]

I appreciate all you guys' advice, unfortunately I just cannot get this sucker to slip out of forward gear. I guess it's a trip to the mechanic. rodbolt17, if that shift shaft on the lower unit is supposed to turn 360* I've got a serious problem. It has about 30* range of motion as boscoe99 said earlier. I've manipulated the shift shaft, drive shaft and prop shaft every which way and it still won't go into neutral. Turning the shift shaft (on the lower unit) to the extreme I can get it to neutral, but as soon as I release and turn anything it slips back into forward gear. I'm at a loss, it seems so simple. Again, thanks for all of the advice.

[rodbolt17]

its always possible that the cam detent or the plunger tip or both have simply worn out.

find a shop near you with a master tech,take it there.
will take about 30 seconds for a trained tech to place it in N while you watch.
if not something wore out and your going to have to have it fixed anyway.

the Yamaha dealer locator function will show a dealership with a master tech nearest you.

[lovehatemyboat]

Thanks, rodbolt17. That's what bothers me the most, I'll take this dang thing in and they'll have it fixed in nothing flat. Haha, oh well, that's why they make the big bucks.

[fochlagoon]

This is exactly what my F60 is doing, hope you got yours straightened out. Last yr. I drove two hours to a Yamaha dealer with only the lower unit, motor has approx. 20 hrs. Unit mounted back on easily, but its stuck in forward as before. Drove all last yr with it stuck in forward. Do not feel like taking the boat back to the dealer after being charged over a hundred bucks for nothing.

[rejesterd]

Have you tried taking the LU off, putting the gear shift in forward gear on the remote control, then reinstalling the LU? If you put the LU back on when it's in forward gear, and the prop keeps rotating after you put the gear shift back in neutral, I would reluctantly take it to the shop.

[Aabean1972]

I did follow the instructions above and it did work. If you don't turn past the nuetral detent far enough, it will slip back into forward.

Thanks for the help folks!