Stuck in Neutral

[RHaan]

2001 19 ft Bayliner Capri with 135 hp (3.03) liter Mericruise. Have not run since Oct 06. First day out motor starts fine, but stuck in neutral. Neutral button on throtle appears to work. Any ideas?

[marshmat]

I presume it's an Alpha drive.
The gear oil in the outdrive was changed before the winter, right? If it wasn't, this might explain why the shifting mechanism is jammed.
Check the cable connections between the control box and the drive itself. Are they moving OK when the engine's off? Are they kinked or binding on anything? If the cable is fine, then your problem is probably in the lower gearcase of the drive. That assembly usually needs a Merc mechanic to dismantle and fix.

[RHaan]

Thank you Matt. Thank you for your advice. Since the gear oil was not changed before Winter I will try that first. The cable connections look ok. IF the oil chagne does not help I will bring it in to a Mechanic. I live in North Carolina and we had a mild Winter does that matter?

[marshmat]

Over a summer of use, some water can get into the gear oil. The oil can also deteriorate. If there's water in there over the winter, and it goes below freezing, things bend or break as the water in the drive freezes. Hence why it's good practice to change the oil at fall haulout, rather than in the spring.
Take a good look at the drive when you do the oil change; something in that shift linkage has got to be damaged somewhere. If it's not readily visible and you can see the linkages move properly when you move the shift lever, it's probably an internal problem and at that point you're probably better off with a trained technician than doing it yourself- the inside of the gearcase is a very precisely built mechanism and there are a lot of tiny little parts that are easily damaged or lost if the thing's not dismantled exactly right.

[RHaan]

Thank you I will take your advice and post my results

[Zackman]

When you say it's stuck in neutral, are you saying that the shift lever won't move or is the shift levering moving but the drive is not turning. If it's the later, then you might have a spun coupler.