ughhhh please help wont lock into gear

[boostingpsi]

please help guys this afternoon I went to go on the boat and it was alil rough starting so i had the idle up as i started it so it reved pretty high for 1 sec but in that sec it popped into gear by it self but it was still in neutral???? i dont know what happened but now it wont stay in gear when i rev it in drive it viberates and moves very little ughh so frustrated please dont tell me i blew my lower end please let it be just an adjustment of a cable....

[hydrostream76]

probabaly something simple
you're gonna have to take the cover off the motor and look into it

[77viper]

Look at where the shift cable attaches to the motor, there should be some kind of indicator of neutral, make sure it's centered.
Also with the engine off have someone spin the prop by hand, shift the control box into forward and reverse noting how far from neutral each is. They should be equal.
What motor is it?
Another thing to look at is to remove just the lower drain plug and check the fluid that comes out, there might also be a magnet on the screw. A little gray is ok and silver is something to look further into.

[boostingpsi]

thankyou.... can i check the fluid with the boat in the water? I cant get it out to easily
its only a 100 merc on there
reverse is just as bad if not worse then foward i really dont think its just an adjustment...
lets say its the gears what are we talking is this something i can do myself? I have rebuilt outdrives before but never touched a outboard yet

[77viper]

It has to come out of the water to check the gearlube, but it sounds like it's toast.

It will be similar to a alpha lower but without the special tools it's a gamble on how long it will last if you do it yourself.