PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

[chazswint]

none

 

[Beek14]

Re: PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

There could be a number of things wrong with it. How long have you owned the motor? Have you ever had problems with it before? Do you ever change the gear oil in the lower unit? Can you shift it into reverse? First thing I would do is check the gear oil. Drain some out into a pan, and as it is pouring out get it in between your fingers and rub your fingers together- feel for metal shavings. It could be a possibility that your gear is worn out. It also could be a shifting problem, possibly the linkage came undone. Does it feel like it's shifing at all like you can hear it push forward or reverse at all? If you can hear some movement in the gearcase when shifting, then chances are it's going to be the gears... If the shifter is not moving the clutch dog in the gearcase, it could be a shift linkage problem ( I kind of doubt that though ). If there wasn't any gear oil or there was water in the gearcase then parts could have gotten bad in there too, could cause the clutch dog not to move on the prop shaft which in turn wouldn't allow you to shift.. Let us know..

 

[5150abf]

Re: PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

Concur, drain the lower and see what comes out, I have a sneaking suspicion it won't be good.

The gears in the lower are always in contact and always spinning if the motor is running, the clutchdog slides back and forth on the prop shaft to engage/disengage gears, it sounds like something let go and the peices got caught in between the gears.

Drain the lower and report back and I will hope I am wrong on this one.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

it could be a simple as a cable failing. remove cable at the motor, and try shifting manually at the motor.

 

[chazswint]

Re: PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

it could be a simple as a cable failing. remove cable at the motor, and try shifting manually at the motor.

Ok Thank you for your replies. I trained the lower unit oil it feels and looks new. No problem. I did notice that the prop had a lot of movement in it so I took out the pin and took off the prop and turned the shaft and could not hear any grinding noise in the lower unit. It all moved easily. Could it have been the prop being loose?? I put it back on much tighter and now it has NO movement.

Can someone please be more specific to the cable that might be bad that I need to remove? Is it the cable from the throttle to the motor? Please continue to help! THANKS!

Again, in the beginning the motor will run and when you accelerate the motor accelerates but there is no shifting into gear from the prop. The motor works great, just not going into gear? PLEASE HELP IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! MY WIFE AND KIDS WANT THIS BOAT WORKING HAHA

 

[Beek14]

Re: PLEASE HELP! 83 Johnson runs great but will not go in gear??

Well what tashasdaddy is saying is that the shift cable comes up right underneath the actual motor of the outboard, on most you have to remove the powerhead and right underneath is the shift cable. If you can follow the shift linkage all the way to where the motor is, you can find where the connector is, remove the linkage, and push down and pull up on it. There you will be able to tell if it will engage or not manually. If when you push down, and the prop will not spin, that means the connection is failing.