Tohatsu mfs 50 Shift issue

[smfaunt]

New here. Been lurking for a while. My question is I have a new Tohatsu 50 4 stroke tiller handle and the shifting is funky and has been since I've picked it up. When it is in forward and you go to try and find neutral it's kinda hard and when you do get it to move it shifts right into reverse. Now you can go from reverse to neutral easy. But forward to neutral is difficult to do? Any ideas on this? My dealer is 2 hours away.

[smooth move]

is it tiller shift? i had a mariner 25 that was like that and i followed the shift linkage and found a square shift shaft on the side of the engine and disconnected the tiller shift and made a handle for a side shift that fit onto the square shaft. then i had a separate side shift from the tiller throttle. if this makes sense to you you're as out there as i am, but it worked for me.

[Gerald]

It sounds like the shift linkage is out of adjustment. On older outboards, this was fairly easy to adjust to make the "neutral" fall in the center spot. I don't know what is required on the 50 hp engine. I have the 40 Hp engine on my boat. Great engine.


I would call the dealer and make an appointment so that they could correct this problem while you wait. Maybe they would allow you to watch so you could learn how this is done.

[smfaunt]

I believe the 40 and the 50 are the same setup. I've looked at the linkage and the heim style connector appears to be in the right spot but it may be out of spec. I'll probably just make the trip to the dealer and have them look at it. Just thought maybe someone would have an idea and/or a spec for the adjustment.