Jet popping out of gear

[bkedman]

My '77 150hp Merc outboard keeps popping out of gear and pushing the motor out of the water (and into my arm OUCH:shocked:). At first I noticed this whenever I went above about 1/4 power. I used a bungie cord to tie the shift to the tiller handle and that works as long as I'm going with the current. I can go full throttle with the current; but as soon as I go against the current and go above 1/2 throttle it pops into neutral and forces the motor out of the water. After that my fuel pump doesn't work very well and I have to pump the bulb to keep enough gas going to the motor to run me back in.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

[chummer]

On my old duck boat, I had a similar situation, at full throttle, my 85 hp merc would come flying outta the water. Turns out the reverse bucket would pop up and kick the motor into reverse. This was my duck boat and really did'nt want to put any money into it so I simply removed the reverse bucket, I never missed not having reverse on my old alumaweld sled. While my solution won't help you, I know how frustrating it is.

[Boat Doc']

Adjust the linkage to where the bucket is all the way in forward with the lever forward, then use a bungy to hold it in place

[bkedman]

Just in case anyone else is having this issue:

I took the reverse bucket off and the pins that hold the bucket to the main housing have worn egg shaped holes causing excessive play in the bucket. I'm having some bushings made and I will JB weld them into place and hopefully that will take care of the issue. :pray: I also tightened up the bolt that hold the shift handle in place and that seems to have helped a lot. There is still a lot of play in the bar that goes from the bottom of the motor to the reverse bucket. I hope that the other two fixes will be enough that I don't have to worry about that one.