Once you have your idle adjusted down it should shift fine. My shifts hard also if the idle is high.

But like someone else said, check the shift interuptor. Even if the throttle is high it should still kill the motor for a second so it will come out of gear.

John S.

Alright, so it's idling fine now and shifting into fwd and reverse smoothly and without any thumps... great.

I'm still having the issue with when I'm in gear and coming back into neutral that it's staying in gear for a few extra seconds. From what I've read, and what has already been mentioned here, is that it's the shift interrupter that needs attention. It seems to shift into neutral just fine when on the muffs/hose, but not when it's in the water and under load.

Does anyone have a photo of what and where I need to adjust? I can see where the shifter engages and such, right next to the exhaust manifold on the starboard side. Actually, I can manually push the thing back into neutral as well. I only looked at it for a short period of time before it was dark last night, so after I look at it again it may become glaringly obvious what needs to be adjusted... but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask as well

Spend a few bucks and pick up a manual, real cheap insurance that you get it right. Bottom shifters as I call them need proper adjustment, once done they will work fine until the cable finally gives you grief. Question does it stutter at all coming out of gear, the stuttering is real important as the ramps in the dogs are cut at an angle which helps them to fully engage. If the converter is not tripping the switch you can stretch the cable trying to get them out of gear under load. Get the book it will help you in many ways with many more things, follow it slowly step by step!

Phil

By manual, I'm assuming you mean the Mercruiser repair manual for the motor? That's a good idea, I wonder if any of the local boat shops will have them in stock.

It doesn't stutter at all coming out of gear, which leads me to believe that it's really close already and just needs a small adjustment. Hopefully that's all it needs at least, I'm about ready to just have some peace of mind when I'm out on the lake! It actually does eventually (4-10 seconds) shift itself back into neutral, also with no stuttering.

If the interrupter/cut out switch is not working it will not come out of gear. Have someone run the controls and watch the switch ride on the cam. This is a little tricky to adjust and like said above get a book. All this switch does is takes a load off the outdrive so you can get it out of gear. The same thing can be accomplished by turning the ignition switch on and off real fast.

Sounds like the shift cable needs to be adjusted, or replaced. Since you don't have the manual go to www.outdrives.com/merc/mdtips02.html read all about the shift cable