1996 Johnson 48 Reverse Problem

[andre967]

I recently bought a used boat with a 1996 Johnson 48. The lower unit on the motor was swapped out with another used one prior to me buying it. The motor shifts fine into forward and reverse when it is running on ear muffs. In the water, when you put it into reverse, it makes a noise like it is not fully engaging and it won't back up right. It revs and the props spins fast, but something is not right. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1996 Johnson 48 Reverse Problem

shift rod height or shift cable needs adjusting.

 

[andre967]

Re: 1996 Johnson 48 Reverse Problem

How do I go about adjusting the cable or checking the shift rod height?

 

[HybridMX6]

Re: 1996 Johnson 48 Reverse Problem

The shift rod height you have to drop the lower unit to get to and check.
The cable, you can adjust it under the hood of the engine I believe. How I just did mine on a '93 60hp:
Pull the hood off, and move the controls to figure out which is shift and which is throttle. Once figured out, I loosened the bolt that holds the steel retainer over the cables. Once loosened, you can twist the big black plastic "knob" over the cable. I had to play with mine some before I got it just right. Just pay attention to which way the cable moves to go into F, and the same for R, then screw it or unscrew it accordingly, in small increments. If you get it too far in one direction, your problem is the result, and it won't go into a gear fully, which will do more damage to the LU.