V4 shifting problem only when hot

joezek

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 8, 2011
Messages
137
I have a 1989 110 Evinrude. It just started having a problem shifting but only when hot. I've re-rigged the shift cables a hundred times. It shifts flawlessly and with no effort when it's cold and leaving the ramp. But as soon as it gets hot, you can't get it to go to neutral, and when you finally get it to go out of gear, after pulling so hard, it flies past neutral and right into reverse. This makes me look like a moron when trying to dock the boat. It's actually kind of scary when you have no way of controlling the boat, and it flies from fwd to reverse.

So I changed the lower unit oil, and did the rigging once again. My big question is whether or not I can use the lower unit from my 140 Looper. It's the 15 spline unit. I don't really understand the lower unit interchange chart from the sticky page.

Any suggestions?
 

Chinewalker

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
8,902
There's really nothing that could be temperature related in the shifting mechanism, either at the box or motor end. I would make it do what it does, then localize where it's occurring. .ie, remove the cables from the motor the moment it doesn't want to shift. See if the issue is on the control end or motor end. Then work from there. It could be wear inside the gear case with the clutch dog hanging up and not moving smoothly.

Any evidence of burned lower unit oil? Metal filings?

Is the small nylon piece inside the box intact? It rides in the warm-up lever cam and are known to break. When they do, they can jam up the works - it's a lockout so you can't shift into gear with the warmup lever up.
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
38,527
Perhaps you can fix the present one.-----Look into issues with the shift rod cover and the bronze bushing in it.
 
Top