1992 115hp Johnson Lower Unit Froze Up?

[Jose67]

I am working on a 1992 Johnson 115 for a friend, the engine has not been ran in about 2 1/2 years.I cleaned the carbs and got it started and idling good but when I tried putting it into gear I could not get the shifter to move out of neutral. I disconnected the shifter cable and tried to manually move it into forward gear but it would not budge. Thinking that the shift rod may be froze up in the lower unit I removed the lower unit but still could not budge the shift rod, I unscrewed the rod from the shift detent and it came out freely. Obviously something inside the lower unit is froze up. My question is if there is a way to free it up without disassembling the lower unit (applying heat, etc)? Opening up the lower unit would be beyond my scope of ability.

 

[flyingscott]

Since the drive shaft turns take the drain screw out and see what is in there.

 

[Jose67]

Gear lube is a little milky with minimal metal shavings.

 

[Chris1956]

That shift rod is supposed to move up/down in an aluminum cover. Sometimes the cover swells a bit and grabs the shift rod. The cure is to replace the cover. It should come with a couple of Orings to seal the connection.

 

[Jose67]

Yes, that was my hope that the rod was seized but I was able to unscrew the rod and pull it out freely. When I screw it back in and try to move it up and down it will not move at all.

 

[Chris1956]

If it turns easily in the cover, that means likely bad news for the gearcase itself. See if SEI sells a replacement gearcase for that motor. A V6 gearcase may fit. You might need to reuse the driveshaft, if it is the two-piece one.

 

[Faztbullet]

A V-6 gearcase wot work......

 

[havoc_squad]

If it turns easily in the cover, that means likely bad news for the gearcase itself. See if SEI sells a replacement gearcase for that motor. A V6 gearcase may fit. You might need to reuse the driveshaft, if it is the two-piece one.

Fairly sure that if this is the newer Crossflow spline driveshaft that is removable, all that is needed is to remove the detachable drive shaft if it is is in good condition, buy an SEI V4 crossflow lower unit, and install your existing detachable drive shaft.

I'm not sure though if there is any clips/retainers that are needed as accessory parts for securing the driveshaft to the lower unit though.

Give SEI product support a call before buying at least, even if you buy through a dealer/service shop instead of buying direct.


If it was a 1979 to 1991 model, I believe it would require buying the detachable driveshaft that has the older splines.

 

[flyingscott]

Fill the lower unit up with tranny fluid and let it sit for a week.

 

[Jose67]

Well a little bit of good news, I got the shift rod moving. I can move it up and down about 3/4 of an inch, enough to engage into forward gear and into reverse gear. There seems to be a lot of slack in the gears, when I pull the shift rod up to engage forward I can rock the driveshaft back and forth about 1/4-1/3 of a revolution before the propeller will start to move. Seems a little much to me, what do you guys think. Also going to drain the gear lube and fill with trans fluid and let soak for a few days as recommended by flyingscott.

 

[flyingscott]

Sounds normal put the tranny fluid in.