Have another issue that im in need of some help with. I've replaced the water pump assembly on my 1998 40 2 stroke mercury, it was missing one of nylon washers and now it pisses like a drunk frat boy on thirsty thursday. I did the dis assembly and assembly by the book, neutral and neutral, grease points, changed foot oil (old oil was nice and black by the way, no water in it). Now however I believe my shift linkage is off or something else is going on





The foot gears make a clicking sound when in neutral, no noise in forward or reverse. The prop when spun manually feels like it is slightly grabbing on a gear. After some reading Ive seen this can be either a shift link adjustment issue or something worse like a tooth going. The prop will only spin in one direction in forward and is locked when in reverse. I have a video of it I will try to upload a little later. I know where the shift linkage is on the motor itself and how it has a smaller nut and a larger one...however im not familiar how to adjust them. As just screwing them up and down doesnt have any affect on the prop issue.

Did it shift normally before dis-assembly? Does this model use the threaded rod for shif linkage or a spline shaft? I'm not at work so I don't have the manual in front of me.

Some gearcases have whats called a ratcheting clutch dog (sliding clutch) which will ratchet in FWD gear and totally lock when it's in REV gear, no ratcheting.
Lemme see if I can locate a SVC manual pic online...
ETA -- Is this a 3 cylinder 2-stroke? Serial number handy?

Ok, I'm going to assume   for now it's a 3 cyl 2-stroke.  De-couple the shift rod at the threaded coupler by threading the threaded sleeve up the shaft and the lock nut down the shaft. Once separated make sure the control handle and the gearcase are in neutral. I sometimes use pliers to grip the shift shaft going into the gearcase and make sure it's in the N detent by shifting it manually with the pliers. Once your satisfied both are in N, align the threaded rods and couple them together with the threaded coupler. Snug lock nut up to coupler. Normally there will be about 1/8 inch gap between the rods when both handle and gearcase are in N before coupling them together.
If they overlap or are too far apart, disconnect shift cable from linkage on the engine (10mm nylock nut). Couple shift rods leaving the normal 1/8 inch gap. Remove the shift cable "barrel" from it's holder and thread it one way or the other to make the cable "match the linkage.
Keep in mind there is some slack (free play) in any cable so you will have to compensate for said slack in your barrel adjustment. It will most likely take a few more turns once the barrel and cable eyelet line up with the linkage.
Once satisfied, re install barrel into its socket and test. Don't forget the little cable barrel retainer.

Im pretty sure I know what your talking about, I don't remember moving the foot shift rod, but it could have been bumped.



When I move it with the pliers to the neutral position the foot gears should not grind like the video? ill take the foot off tuesday and try again





and that is the 3cyl in neutral video
 

Leading edge of the prop looks a bit rough. That said, it's shouldn't "ratchet" in both directions. Try adjusting the shift cable like I described above without dis-connecting the shift rod from the "foot". Remove the 10mm lock nut and the cable barrel from it's retainer. Shift the gear case using the linkage where the 10mm nut was. If it functions fine, then adjust cable barrel to "match" the linkage taking into account the cable free play I described above.

It ended up being pretty easy to fix, thanks for the help. Just unscrewed the linkage pushed down on the lower linkage until the prop rotated




smoothly, held the linkage at that point and then adjusted the top linkage to fitment. Initially i thought i'd have to end up taking the foot off and just wasting a bunch of time.
the props a little rough, nothing bent or to ate up....i thought it wasn't as bad compared to our rescue boat at work....its the next item on my list, but i got a baby




on the way, so im having to find the wife on good days lol.



Recommended pitch? 3-4 blade?






 

If the engine runs in the proper RPM range with the current pitch prop, stay with the same pitch. I'm a three blade guy.
ETA -- The shift rod going into the foot should have F,N,R  detents you can feel when it's disconnected and you manipulate the rod with pliers. If you feel no detents then the shift "wedge" in the lower unit is probably "hammered" smooth. Most likely from the impacts on the leading edge of the prop blades.

there were detents, they were just smooth and neutral apparently had a wider range than forward or reverse



by the way....the motor itself doesn't seem to have a choke, and the throttle control doesn't have the idle lever, instead it has the button on the

throttle you push in and can freely move the throttle stick without the motor going into gear...is proper start up to just turn the key over until the motor starts? or engage the idle button on

the throttle and give the motor some gas?

It has what's called an enrichener valve, not a typical choke plate. This valve injects fuel directly into the intake manifold behind the reeds. It is activated by pushing in on the ignition key while cranking. The valve is supplied by the fuel pump so the engine must be turning over for it to function.
My cold starting procedure is, make sure lanyard is in the kill switch, prime the primer bulb, advance throttle (not in gear) about 1/3, crank engine while pushing in on key to activate enrich valve. Motor should crank right up. Keep your hand on the throttle so it doesn't rev way up.