I have noticed lately that I have almost no neutral on my 2008 25 hp 2 stroke Yamaha. I only have less than 1/4" before I hit reverse that the motor is in true neutral ( when the prop isn't engaged ) anything forward of that position is neutral that allows the motor to be pulled to start and then forward. I have tried adjusting the arm that comes out of the shifter handle but that only makes it worse. Anything else I should be looking for or adjusting? :-/ Thanks in advance
You need the shop manual for your outboard. In it is the step by step needed to adjust all the shift linkages. Get a copy of the Yamaha OEM shop manual for your specific model. With it in hand the adjustments you need to make are simple.
OK so I got my service manual from Yamaha today and I find no mention of the adjustment for the neutral. I will have my daughter read over it tomorrow at brunch but I just don't see it.
On the left side of the shaft there is an opening where you should see a nut connecting two shafts. This is the linkage shaft that shifts the gear case. With a couple of wrenches you can adjust it's length effectively adjusting the linkage. It's a real pain in the butt but with a little fiddling you can get it dialed in. When you do get it adjusted right be sure to take note of the thread positions on top and bottom. You will need to disconnect it whenever you drop the lower to do the water pump.
Csurf has part of it, found in the lower unit repair section the rest is in the throttle/shift linkage section for the tiller handle and shifter.
