I have a '99 Mercury 9.9 2-stroke outboard that's suddenly really difficult to shift / accelerate. We recently had it in for a carb cleaning, impeller, lower unit oil, etc. Ever since we got it back, it runs like a top, but is difficult to shift and accelerate. You have to twist the tiller handle quite firmly to get it out of neutral and into forward gear. Reverse seems fine. Once in forward gear, it's still difficult to turn. So it's difficult to get it to the right speed -- I either get neutral, very slow (2mph) or 4-ish. Can't really get anywhere in between them. I checked the obvious things, throttle lock screw, etc, but am not seeing any difference. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions -- We had to remove it / replace it on a mooring which isn't something I want to repeat to bring it back in.
Mercury 9.9 (2 stroke) hard to shift / accelerate
- Thread starter ShawnL
- Start date
Sounds like the shift linkage is out of whack
There is a barrel nut towards the bottom of the leg where the shift rod enters the lower unit (at least on mine)
If you can get into shallow water where you can stand on the bottom and reach the linkage it is fairly east to adjust. Look for a tutorial on Youtube. To make it easier to get in the right spot I added two nuts on the bottom linkage that are jammed together as a guide at just the right spot for the barrel nut to be adjusted to the right position.
There is a barrel nut towards the bottom of the leg where the shift rod enters the lower unit (at least on mine)
If you can get into shallow water where you can stand on the bottom and reach the linkage it is fairly east to adjust. Look for a tutorial on Youtube. To make it easier to get in the right spot I added two nuts on the bottom linkage that are jammed together as a guide at just the right spot for the barrel nut to be adjusted to the right position.