Mercury 25XD will not tilt!

[Jinxd12]

Back from a few years hiatus with a boat, got the itch again and picked up a decent boat for cheap.

I have gone through this 84 Mercury 25XD, and the last thing I think I need to solve is...I can't get it to tilt unless I remove the pin.

YES, I do have the washer on the shift shaft!! I know someone will be quick to answer with that haha.

It's a tiller motor and I just serviced the oil and impeller, everything works as it's supposed to.

I've cleaned and lubed all the small moving parts best I could, if I gently pry up on the washer the motor will tilt, just wondering what else I could be missing.

I tried to search everything online for the last 2 days, with no luck. Hoping someone has an opinion!

 

[LDUBS]

Did you try tilting when in forward gear?

 

[Jinxd12]

Did you try tilting when in forward gear?

Yes, that should be the only way the motor tilts if I'm correct. In the case something was hit while moving on the water.

 

[Jinxd12]

Update….solved. Maybe this helps someone in the future.

Solved the issue tonight, I removed the cowls for better access to everything and started poking around. I used a screwdriver to gently pry on things while I tried tilting.
Where the shift shaft comes out of the lower unit there was buildup of crud, grease, and whatever else was making the shaft tough to put in gear sometimes.
I removed the buildup with some degreaser and a small pick, and put a lil grease on everything. Everything works as it should now.

The shift shaft wasn’t “bent” but it was being pushed off center of up and down so realistically the shaft part was bending a little bit when put in gear

 

[LDUBS]

Glad you found it and thanks for sharing the solution. Great when it turns out to be something simple.