1966 60hp won't shift into foward

[EAGLE-5]

Maybe someone could help me. I just bought an old boat with a 1966 johnson model VXL-12R. The motor runs great-but grinds when shifted into foward. Reverse works with no problems. I have no experience with lower units so i'm not sure whats going on. With the engine off it all seems to shift fine, but when running, foward just grinds. Any imput would be great. I have taken the prop off and what gears i can see look fine. There is proper oil and no visual leaks. All the shift linkage appears fine and all bolts are tight. Is this a problem that can be fixed without removing the lower unit? Hopefully somebody can give me advice...

 

[freddyray21]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

sounds like your shift linkage is not going far enough for it to fully go into gear. If not the shift linkage then the clutch dog may be completely shot. Try the linkage first.

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

I have checked the linkage, but will double check. About the clutch dogs, are they located where the shaft meets the gears in the lower unit? Do i need to dissassemble the lower unit to axis it? If so is there orings i need to reassemble lower unit to make it water tight again? thank you for your help. Also somebody told me that if they took the wrong screw out of the lower unit when they drained the oil last time i am screwed. Ever heard of this?

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

Also is this dog reversible?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

I have checked the linkage, but will double check. About the clutch dogs, are they located where the shaft meets the gears in the lower unit? Do i need to dissassemble the lower unit to axis it? If so is there orings i need to reassemble lower unit to make it water tight again? thank you for your help. Also somebody told me that if they took the wrong screw out of the lower unit when they drained the oil last time i am screwed. Ever heard of this?

Yes if you take the phillips head screw out, you will have a heck of a time getting it back in. But the fact that it shifts, even if it is out of water, says that the screw/pin is installed correctly.

The bad news is that chances are about 99+% that the clutch dog and forward gear are both hopelessly worn out. If it were merely jumping, you might have hope of saving the gear. But grinding......nah, it is a goner.

The lower unit gearcase has to be completely taken apart to fix. The gears cost a bundle $$

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

thanks for your info-does any place even keep parts for this motor or am i SOL? What about swapping lower unit from a diff motor, does it have to be same year and model?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

Parts are available.

The manual shift lower unit is interchangeable on all V-4 motors from 1960 thru 1968. That does not mean the internal parts all all the same though. Also, it excludes the electric shift motors.

BTW, the 60 was offered with an optional "heavy duty" lower unit, which actually is the 1958-58 "Fat Fifty" unit. You wouldn't happen to have that one, would you?

Be careful buying a replacement unit. It could be as bad or worse than the one you have.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

I wonder if the shift shaft coupler on the left side is connected properly. The top of the shaft in the lower unit is tapered near the top to allow the bolt to go through the coupler along side the shaft. If you take the two cover plates off the left side of the exhaust housing (may be diamond shaped and one is inside the other) then you can remove the lower bolt to see if the rod is aligned properly. It's worth the check before you tear it apart.

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

Parts are available.

The manual shift lower unit is interchangeable on all V-4 motors from 1960 thru 1968. That does not mean the internal parts all all the same though. Also, it excludes the electric shift motors.

BTW, the 60 was offered with an optional "heavy duty" lower unit, which actually is the 1958-58 "Fat Fifty" unit. You wouldn't happen to have that one, would you?

Be careful buying a replacement unit. It could be as bad or worse than the one you have.

thanks for the info-
and no its not the heavy duty lower unit.

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

I wonder if the shift shaft coupler on the left side is connected properly. The top of the shaft in the lower unit is tapered near the top to allow the bolt to go through the coupler along side the shaft. If you take the two cover plates off the left side of the exhaust housing (may be diamond shaped and one is inside the other) then you can remove the lower bolt to see if the rod is aligned properly. It's worth the check before you tear it apart.

I will check this thank you- I have had the diamond shape cover off but not the inside one.

 

[EAGLE-5]

Re: 1966 60hp won't shift into foward

After checking everything possible- I ended up removing the lower unit and found the inner tabs (only one direction) on the gears were worn. The actual gear teeth are fine but without those tabs the clutch dogs won't grab to allow them to work. This is why only reverse worked. Thanks to all who helped, I have to admit taking the lower unit off wasn't as big of a project as i first thought. The parts are big $$ as someone already told me, since the teeth on the gears were perfect, i decided to weld the tabs where needed and benched them back to a square edge. All back together and works great!! Maybe this will help somebody else. Thanks again for your replies.