cant get outboard into reverse

[Jack]

i have a mercury 9.8 hp outboard. When docking yesterday, I realized I couldnt engage the outboard into reverse after lowering the rpm's and switching fron FWD to Neutral to Reverse. It felt like the gears were grinding when I attempted to push the lever from Neutral to Reverse (again on low RPM's). Can anyone offer me any ideas - how hard to fix and typical problems. Thanx all,

 

[Landsend]

Your linkage may be out of adjustment...

Some outboards have a acess plate on the side to make linkage adjustments for the shift control bars in the lower case.