With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

[astampfel]

I have a 1990 Johnson 115 Hp, XL length. I bought the engine 3 months ago. It runs OK, but I could never get it to shift into reverse. I finally broke down and removed the lower section to set the shift rod height according to the manual. I put it all back together, trailered the boat to the water, put it in, and reverse finally engaged! But, when I went to shift to forward, nothing happened. It would not engage in forward. So, I took the boat back home and removed the lower section. I could get 3 distinct positions with the shift rod (reverse, neutral, and forward), but forward would not engage when I spun the prop. Reverse would engage, and neutral was free, but when I lifted the shift rod into the forward position, the rod moved, but it would not engage the prop! Does anyone have any ideas on what I need to do?????

 

[boobie]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Sounds like your shift rod adjustment is off or you have probs in your lower unit. Did you turn the prop shaft when trying it on the bench?

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

When you're putting the lower unit in gear on the workbench what ya' really gotta' do is rotate the driveshaft (clockwise when looking down) as you're moving the shift rod. Otherwise it's just like trying to go into gear with the engine not running, sometimes it will and sometimes it won't.

Did you ever check the shift cable adjustment? In a nutshell what you do is remove it from the shift linkage, put the gearcase in neutral, and adjust the shift cable (with the shifter in neutral) so it lines up with the shift linkage. Wiggle it back and forth to make sure it's well centered.

 

[5150abf]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Adjustment wouldn't matter if he is pulling directly on the shift rod, it shoud go into gear.

Have you drained the lower recently, if not do it now and look for metal bits in the oil.

 

[jonesg]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Wiggle it back and forth to make sure it's well centered.

The manual contradicts what would seem the logical way.

Per the manual.

Spin the prop and shift into fwd.
Go all the way fwd with the shifter in fwd then pull back to neutral, the shifter is now set up properly to hook up to the engine. Don't wiggle it
Then spin the prop and test shift into reverse.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

I was saying when he's adjusting the shift cable to make sure that the shift cable is "centered" in it's range of motion, maybe I didn't 'splain it so well.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Astampfel..... The shift rod measurement, whatever it must be, should be adjusted with the lower unit in neutral. The measurement being taken from the "top surface" of the lower unit to the "center" of the shift rod hole. I assume this is the procedure you're following. This must be performed before installing the lower unit to the engine.

However, when the lower unit is NOT installed to the engine but rather removed for bench testing, it doesn't matter how that shift rod is adjusted as it is not connected to any other linkage and you are simply moving it up & down to whatever position is required.

Pertaining to bench testing, spinning the propeller when moving the shift rod serves the same purpose as turning the driveshaft (allows the shifter dog lobes to align with the gear lobes) and is the easiest procedure method of the two (spin the propeller).

Off the engine, spinning the propeller, moving the shift rod from neutral to reverse, to neutral, to forward, going thru the various shift positions in general, the unit should shift perfectly (regardless of what measurement the shift rod might be at). If it does not, something is definitely wrong within the lower unit.

Let us know what you find.

 

[astampfel]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Thanks for all the advice. Joe, I think you're right on as usual. I have tried spinning the prop by hand on the bench and lifting the shift rod to shift into forward, but it won't engage. The rod moves up to the forward position, but nothing engages. I was afraid that it was something bad, and with everyone's help, I think it is something bad. I have a real Johnson manual, but I'm afraid to take it apart. Reading through the procedure, they have a lot of exotic tools, so I don't know if I want to try it. I may call my local repair shop and see what they want. Or, I may bite the bullet, remove the upper head, and mount it to a spare lower unit that I have laying around. I wonder which is easier to do???

 

[astampfel]

Re: With lower section off and shift rod all the way up, prop won't engage

Well, I finally broke down and swapped power heads. I have 2 complete outboards, one is a 90 Hp and one is a 115 Hp, but they are basically the same except for the 115 is an XL model. So, I wasn't able to just swap the lower sections, ughhhhhhhhhh. But, I did swap power heads, tested the boat yesterday, and it works! I didn't see any leakage from the power head gasket, so I hope I did a good job. It wasn't easy though. I had to remount the trim unit during the process and all I had was a cable ratchet hung from my garage rafter. I was also able to change the thermostat and some fuel lines that looked in bad shape, so over all, it was worth the effort. Actually, the shorter lower unit allows my boat to get 5000 RPM WOT and 40 mph, where the other lower unit that broke would only give me 4500 rpm and 34 mph and splashed water into the boat. I'm a little worried though with the shorter lower unit. When I'm on plane, the propeller is only covered by about 1" of water. When I turn it is still covered (no rpm over speeding), but it just looks weird. The water is at the level of the horizontal plate that is just above the prop. Should I be concerned???