Trouble with Yamaha 150 outboard

[SkunkBoat]

Originally Posted by Rusty5387

Okay another update. My father in law is a mechanic so he came down to the boat to see if he could figure it out. While at the boat it appeared the shift cable was not going all the way back into reverse so I helped and pushed it by hand and it shifted into reverse. After that it shifted into reverse everytime we tried. So we decided to go out for a quick cruise and while out I slowed down and went into neutral and when I went to get going again it wouldn't shift into forward. After multiple attempts of just going back and forth with the shifter it went into forward again and we went on our way. When pulling up to the dock I tried putting it in reverse and the motor rpm's went up real high and then it kind of slammed into reverse. I think it may be time for a new lower unit but I want to be sure before I purchase one. last thing I need is to order one and install it and find out it was the cables that went bad. Thanks for all the advice everyone I really appreciate it!

Test like this...
Cowling off, disconnect the shift cable at the motor.
boat in water(securely tied to dock) or motor on earmuffs(keep clear of prop!!!), running at idle, manually shift from N to R to N to F to N at the motor. If it does that with no chatter, no slipping and banging, then your lower unit is OK. You have play in your cable or the linkage.

Connect cable and try to determine if it is returning to the same place each time you shift. Could be cable or connection at motor or in binnacle.

[Rusty5387]

The motor has continued to shift fin with only slipping once or twice on the past few trips. After everything I've seen and checked I believe it is not my cables. I think when I ran across that sandbar and abruptly stopped that it may have broken part of the gears. Now when I'm in forward there is a loud knocking sound so I'm going to have to replace the lower unit. Thanks for the help everyone