Was stuck in reverse; now stuck in neutral

[jergue]

Boat=2002 Ranger Commanche 518 VX
Motor=2002 Evinrude 200 H.O.
model # E200FPLSNF
serial # 04981299

Today at the boat ramp, I backed my boat away from the dock to load it on the trailer and it wouldn't disengage. Even putting the shifter in forward, I just kept going backwards faster. I turned the key off and used the trolling motor to get it on the trailer. Once on the trailer, nothing I did with the shifter disengaged the prop.

I traveled home (approximately 30 minutes) and pulled it into the garage. For whatever reason, I noticed that I was now able to turn the prop freely by hand. Figuring that something let loose, I decided to test it and hooked the earmuffs up and fired it up. No matter what I did with the shifter did anything to engage the prop.....only the throttle.

Anybody know what's going on here? Thanks in advance for your help!

[Sportwin]

Divide and conquer.

Remove the shift cable from the engine and operate the shifter to see if the cable moves in both directions.
If it does, try shifting the motor linkage while rotating the prop with your foot.

That should indicate which has a problem the control box and cable or the motor.

[jergue]

I have determined that the problem is most definately in the control box/shifter and not in the motor. When I take the motor cover off and move the shift lever/throttle, I can see the throttle linkage move, but the arm that sits in the lower cowling that engages the forward/reverse remains motionless. When someone else moves that arm manually (forward or backward), I can feel something moving in the shifter. It's like something isn't catching that should be.

Does anyone know if these control boxes can be fixed , or am I looking at shelling out $275 for a new replacement?

[noelm]

just make sure it is not a broken cable before you start pulling things to bits and getting parts.