Why does boat stall when shifted to idle?

Question

Merc 4.3 I/O. 95 Searay 19.5. Runs great. But when I shift to idle rpms drop to -0- and it stalls. On restart, idles @ 750-850. Sometimes hard to restart after stalling. Thanks.

Answer 1

With some variations I agree with the first answer by tempra?  It's the cable..  

Answer 2

is it on a cold start??

Answer 3

You most likely have a problem with the lower shift cable. The shifting system uses a "shift interupter" circuit which is designed to momentarily "stall" the engine as it comes out of gear. When the cable gets tight it causes too much drag on the shift interupter mechanism which results in the engine dying completely instead of just stumbling. The shift cable runs from the shift plate down to the sterndrive.