Reverse Problems

[BIG SHRIMP]

I have an outboard that will not go in reverse or neutral.IN neutral it is still pushing the boat forward and when put in reverse it tries to pull but starts bogging and flushing water out the exhaust.I have taken it to Cowtown in Cuba and after they told me it was good to go I headed to the river and discoverd it was not good to go.This engine has a jet that has been rebuilt so Im wondering if maybe the bearings may be bad or if possibly something was put in wrong.I dont know much about jets,hoping maybe someone can help me out with some ideas.The boot that flips up and down is doing it job.Thank for any advice.

[GloryDaze]

I know absolutely nothing about a jet boat- but I owned a stern drive boat one time that did the exact same thing you are experiencing. They looked at it and told me it was a bad gear cable. Hell, I don't even know if yours has a gear cable on it- but that's what mine was.

[Ham]

I have a Merc 20 jet. When running in neutral, there is a little forward push. You certainly should be getting a lot more when in forward. Reverse lowers a block that (for the most part) deflects the water to create a reverse push. My jet doesn't have much power in reverse at all.

Carefully look at your external linkage to see if everything is in order there.

I know you'd rather fix it at home. The lower unit of a jet seems pretty straight forward. I'm need to take mine down and inspect the impeller etc. There are jet maintainence DVD's available online for less than 20 bucks.

If all that fails, there has to be a jet mechanic around here somewhere.