blew my reverse

[mattdd]

'89 yamaha 90hp. i was in fast idle and put it in reverse too quickly b4 the engine rev'd down. now, when i put it in reverse, it rev's up then starts clicking. it still spins, but dosent put out any power. just enuf to barely stear. is this a whole lower unit rebuild? or could it be something else?

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: blew my reverse

Make sure the bearing carrier is fully seated. Maybe it pushed back. Check for propshaft end-play, there shouldn't be more than 1/8 inch. Otherwise I might be inclined to believe the cable or the remote control was stressed and might just need some cable adjustment. On the other hand, you might've sheared a cog and you don't want that swimming around in there.

 

[ghind]

Re: blew my reverse

check your gear oil

If you blew something, you would have lots of metal on the plug as it is magnetic.

get onto fixing it before you chew out more parts. I would suggest testing without the motor running. i.e. put it in gear, can you turn it by hand?

 

[Capt Ken]

Re: blew my reverse

Ya ain't blew nothing. The shift shaft going from just under the bottom carb down to the lower unit is twisted. Pre 93 engines used a mild steel shaft and later models went to stainless. The shaft is going to almost rusted in half down toward the bottom and when you shifted fast, you twisted it at the rusted area. You will need to replace the shaft with the newer SS one. To be sure, remove the shift cable from the side of the engine, pull the pin holding the engine shift linkage in the slot and drop it out, Then manually move the linkage to the rear and see if it doesn't engage. Of course do this with the engine not running.

 

[mattdd]

Re: blew my reverse

Ya ain't blew nothing. The shift shaft going from just under the bottom carb down to the lower unit is twisted. Pre 93 engines used a mild steel shaft and later models went to stainless. The shaft is going to almost rusted in half down toward the bottom and when you shifted fast, you twisted it at the rusted area. You will need to replace the shaft with the newer SS one. To be sure, remove the shift cable from the side of the engine, pull the pin holding the engine shift linkage in the slot and drop it out, Then manually move the linkage to the rear and see if it doesn't engage. Of course do this with the engine not running.

well, its been awhile, but i finally checked it, and reverse does engage!!! the prop locks up anyway......that means that it engaged right? so this bent shaft is probally my problem? so how do i get it out? looks like i gotta pull the block to remove it. is that the case?

 

[SuzukiChopper]

Re: blew my reverse

I don't know about Yamaha or Suzuki OB's but I had the same thing with my boat when I bought it, never any reverse, just clicking and revving. The prop would engage on land while running but under load on the water would not engage. With my Johnson there is the driveshaft cog that gets engaged by a forward or reverse ramped cog. The reverse side on mine had rounded the edges that "grab" to engage and would just roll off each other. You might have the same thing happening. I do machining as a hobby so I was able to re-establish the edges to fix the problem and did that because the parts were hard to find (it's a '72 Johnson) and if you could were very expensive. Probably not so much for your motor and may be worth a look to check the driveline and drive cogs.

 

[mattdd]

Re: blew my reverse

I was testing this again this weekend. So when I move the linkage to the rear with out the cable attached it engages, or locks up the prop anyway. I thought that since it engaged with the cable detached that the cable just might not be pushing the linkage far enough to get it to engage. So I tried moving the linkage with the cable detached and the motor running. When I pushed it all the way back it didn’t engage, but as soon as I pushed it all the way back it jumped back out about an inch. Of course I was applying pressure and pushing it back so it “chattered”, which is the noise I hear when I do it at the remote control. Does this sound like what it would do if it is that twisted shift rod? Just wondering since I gotta take the powerhead off to replace it.

 

[Capt Ken]

Re: blew my reverse

It's twisted