~1990 25hp Johnson Stuck in Forward

[389is]

I'm getting started resurrecting an old 25hp Johnson that's been sitting for 30 years. It doesn't look too bad under the hood, but there's decent corrosion here and there. The engine has compression, I was able to pull the cord and get a few turns out of it. Legend has it was running fine when put away.

I'm sure I'll run into more issues as I get going, but for now, my issue is this. I was moving the shift lever back and forth from N to R to F and greasing it a bit, and it did that fine a few times, until it went into forward and now won't move back to N. I've since realized that I shouldn't shift the motor w/out it running.. but alas. I'm wondering what caused it to get stuck in forward, and what I might do to fix it? I haven't touched the lower unit yet, nor replaced the oil, etc.

 

[tphoyt]

Try turning the prop or flywheel by hand and see if you can get it back in N. If not drop the lower and see what’s going on and do a water pump service while you’re there.
What were the compression numbers?

 

[racerone]

Throttle must be at idle to allow shifting back to neutral from forward !

 

[389is]

Thanks @tphoyt . The simple fix wins for now - I got it to shift into neutral by turning the prop while trying to move the shift knob. Learned my lesson on shifting a motor w/out it running.. Now off to the inevitable next repair..

 

[Crosbyman]

Check compresssion before spending to much money .. subjective but if decent ... a good carb job, impeller, gear oil , sanding and painting should be a good runner. old style carb easy to clean up ...lots of utubes.

check for sparkk.. hopefully no work needed on the ignition

idling requiresa clean idles cct. so check the that side channel leading to the top check LS and HS orifices.

seeing it has old style carb consider this book for 20$ ..it covers lots of info even if meant for older engines.

1922-1964 Johnson 302231 Outboard Service Manual

Johnson Outboard Motor Service and Repair Manual # 302231 Tenth Edition covers all Models 1922-1964 .pdf download

watercraftmanuals.com

see example same carb ...with needles