2004 merc 90 hp with a strange issue

[tb4me]

Howdy folks, hope all is well. I have a bit of an issue with my 2004 merc 90 HP 2 stroke outboard. I was out tubing with the grandkids and the motor up and quit. It slowly lost power so I immediately shut her down. It wouldn't shift back into neutral so I could attempt to restart the motor.  So I used the electric motor to get it back.

When I got back I pulled the flywheel cover and the motor turned freely. The next day I went out and it shifted to neutral and started on the water muffs. It shifts into forward and reverse and seems to run fine! I'm not taking ot back out until I figure out what happened. We just changed the lower end unit oil and inspected the prop for debris..It was all good. 

 

Edited to add that the shifter is still very tight shifting into forward and reverse. Where it used to be nice and lose

Edited August 13, 2022 by tb4me
Added more info

[glen]

“It slowlylost power so I immediately shut her down.“

Possibly something cracked and expanded when hot.   
the shifter issue- would be something wrong in the gear case.