Help..no reverse

[dwater]

I have a 1983 johnson sea horse 75hp and she runs strong...After running her all weekend with no problems i put her on the water today and all was well until i later in the day i tried to put her in revers and all i got was engine revs...i tried to adjust the cable and it seems i can pull the lever back by hand and get her in gear but not by the control lever at the box..i tried her in the water again and it sounded likeit was half in gear grinding .if some one can help it would be much appreciated........

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

do a search for a post by vahunter, he is having the same trouble, and so am I, I have seen this problem a few times, no one has come up with a 100% fix, but vahunter seems to think his is related to the gear shift (on the motor) is loose/broken in the bearing/bush section

 

[dwater]

Re: Help..no reverse

Thanks i read vahunter,s thread the and im about to go drain the lower unit and check for any metal bits figure i will start there. my next step is to pull off the cable and turn the prop to see if i can get a smooth shift f-n-r . the idea that a bushing at the shift lever is worn could be the problem i will check that. I seems like i am not getting the same throw backward as forward..
if there is any more advice out there i would apreciate it...i will post as i get into this fix..seems like this happens a lot and there is no easy answer...

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

yep, that is exactly the problem, you can adjust for forward and neutral or reverse and neutral, but not all, seems like as common as the problem is someone should have found the "fix"

 

[dwater]

Re: Help..no reverse

So this iis what i did...I drained the gear fluid and found a lump of metal shavings on the magnet at the drain plug....decided not to hang myself and flushed the gear box with new fluid...after I re filled I noticed the shift moved much easier. next I disconected the linkage and moved f-n-r gears through there positions by hand locking and un locking the prop in and out of gear. I found a good spot for neutral and adjusted the plastic fork thing until it connected at that spot, pulled the plugs and rotated the engine while my girl shifted in and out of the gears..I held the prop with my foot in gear while turning to see if it would pop out..satisfied it may be ok, I drove her to the pond....she is now shifting smooth. the only thing i noticed was that i might have moved the throttle out of position a little....the lever is all the way down before full throttle is reached...MY only concern is the dog or gears are worn and this may only be a temporary fix.....but for now she is smooth...some one tell me if this sounds like it is fixed or just streching the life of the gear a little...

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

so then, what you are saying is that neutral is not in the same position when manualy shifting at the motor with no cable connected, and then you refitted the cable with the gear lever (on the motor) in the new position and it is OK? sounds kind of funny, but I guess possible (somehow) I don't think the gear lever has a "detent" position for neutral, it is either in gear ot neutral. But I think that adjusting the cable to get neutral and forward does almost exactly that, but you still cannot get the travel to select reverse then.

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

I forgot to add, most throttle levers (on the control) can be adjusted to a new position to allow for the lever to be in the right place again, most are just a spline/cog sort of thing, just take the lever off and move it to the right spot again.

 

[crxess]

Re: Help..no reverse

I don't think you have much to worry about. Sounds like it was dirty and binding up, flexing things when trying to reach reverse.

Clutch dog failure is almost always on the forward side.

 

[dwater]

Re: Help..no reverse

I could not get the adjustment with turning the black screw on the end of the cable. it felt like the gears where just barely touching. there is a little arm with a white plastic fork on the end that connects to the actual shift lever that runs under the carbs where the bushing is (was ok by the way) when the lever was in its in the center position true nutral i adjusted the fork turning it in or out until it fit snug to what seemed like the best position...after playing with it and shifting through the gears it seemed to slide right into gear tight....this has seemed to work for now......i just dont know much about how the gears work in the lower unit and dont know if this was a solid fix..strange thing though she shifts real smooth now...no grind no clunk no skip..

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

the shift inside the gearcase is quite simple, all it is (very simplified) is a pair of gears on a shaft, facing each other, with notches on them, on the shaft is a sliding dog clutch that has matching notches on each end, when you select forward the notches lock into one gear, if you shift reverse, it slides back and the notches lock into the other gear, driving the prop backwards, in neutral, it is between the gears, driving nothing, not too sure if you follow that, but it is the best I can do without pictures.

 

[dwater]

Re: Help..no reverse

Thanks thats pretty clear, I looked at a digram earlier so that makes sense. I guess im just wondering what part has the most metal missing...and how long it will last...guess at this point all i can do is run her and cross my fingers

 

[noelm]

Re: Help..no reverse

I think you should be OK, my experience (and I could be wrong) is that the notches on the gears and the clutch either work or don't they very rarely wear "a bit" they are good to go, or stuffed.