# Help, Force 120 Shifting



## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

I changed the seals in my lower unit of my 120 HP Force OB. Well the shift rod came out of the shift cam behind the gears in the lower unit and I got it back it to what I thought was the right way. My lower unit will shift into forward, neutral, and reverse by shifting the shift shaft by hand before putting the lower unit back on the motor. But when I put it back on the motor, I have use of only two gears. Forward and neutral. 

When I go to put it in reverse, it is hard to do so and it locks the prop in gear in both directions. So what the heck am I missing and what is screwed up somewhere? 

My theory is that the splines for the shift shaft are off by one or two when I put it back in the shift cam. But how in the world do I know exactly when it right other than trial and error. It's not the easiest thing to do to get that shift shaft into that cam behind the forward gears in the lower unit.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

well nevermind I don't have reverse manually by the shift rod. It locks the prop both ways. So what is wrong with that shift cam? Any clues?​


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm not sure if this will help.
I don't know what year yours is, but I just did a rebuild on a 1985 90 force foot. I shifted the boat controls in forward, shifted the foot in forward and put it on. After cranking the motor I found that I only had forward and neutral, with no reverse.... After a lot of looking, and scratching my head I found that I had the shift shaft 180 degees out, so I lowered the foot back down, and shifted the control shaft 180, then bolted it back up. It worked perfectly after this. I hope your fix is just an easy adjustment like this one.... Let us know when you figure it out....


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Boatjob1 said:


> I'm not sure if this will help.
> I don't know what year yours is, but I just did a rebuild on a 1985 90 force foot. I shifted the boat controls in forward, shifted the foot in forward and put it on. After cranking the motor I found that I only had forward and neutral, with no reverse.... After a lot of looking, and scratching my head I found that I had the shift shaft 180 degees out, so I lowered the foot back down, and shifted the control shaft 180, then bolted it back up. It worked perfectly after this. I hope your fix is just an easy adjustment like this one.... Let us know when you figure it out....


My problem was two fold. I had the shift shaft 180 degrees out of wack and the shift cam was in upside down. So forward was reverse and vice versa. So I just got it all back together and working right.


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad to hear....... Tight lines, TB


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad to hear you got her fixed Jon!!! Sure wish you could have made the Manatee trip this past week brother!!!


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