Last weekend I spent the morning out fishing and then pulled my boat out of the water for a little bit to grab lunch, but when I put it back in the water to continue fishing the motor would only go in reverse. Whether I throttled forward, reverse, or revved it in neutral it would go in reverse. I read that this is either a shifter cable or lower unit problem. It said if its the lower unit it will act normal when the motor is off (prop spins freely in neutral and locks up in fwd/reverse) and if it is the shifter cable it will act up whether the motor is on or off. Mine is locked up even when its off so I believe it is just a shifter cable problem. I've pulled the throttle box apart but didn't find anything obviously wrong, but then again I'm not the most motor-savvy guy.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I've googled until my fingers were sore and cant find anything that relates to my exact situation and everything I can find is on a motor that looks totally different than mine. My motor is an '88 Mercury 35 HP outboard with the Quicksilver throttle box. I appreciate any feedback! Thanks

I would suspect a broken shift cable remove the shift cable at motor and push and pull on it see if there is and slack in it and check the plastic barrel at the motor and at control box have seen them crack......OPTI

Yes on the broken cable.

Thanks guys. Is this a fix I can do or do I need to take it to a mechanic?

jus ta be sure.. did you disconnect tha shift cable at tha motor?.. if you did, did you try shifting tha motor manually with tha motor shift linkage only?