Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

[clarky711]

Greetings,

I just splashed my new (to me) 1987 18' Cobia Saturday. It has a 1987 (I think) Johnson 90HP VRO 4 cylinder outboard. This engine has had the VRO system removed. Anyway the boat ran pretty good, but the one thing that annoyed me was how hard the shifting was. Yesterday I disconnected the cable to see if it was the culprit. The cables are only 2 years old, and when it was disconnected it was smooth as butter. I greased the fitting and it still seems to be very tight. When it does shift on the water it doesn?t bang into the gears, it?s just that you have to use a lot of force to get it to go between forward and reverse. Any ideas? Maybe it just needs adjustment? I know that it shouldn't shift smooth out of water without a load on the prob, but it did this on the water too. The old owner said it always did this. Thanks.

Mike

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

I just got done fixing a 40 hp that was like that, the shift rod in the lower unit was nearly seized in the bushing with rust. I ended up putting in a new bushing, shift rod and seal.
The motor had sat for a long time before I got it. I actually was able to free it up but the shift rod was pitted and I didn't figure it would ever get a good seal.

 

[noelm]

Re: Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

disconnect the cable at the motor end and see if the gear change is OK when done manualy at the Motor with the cable removed, make sure you turn the prop a bit when shifting, that way you will know where to start looking.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

sharp bends in cable make them much harder to shift. i think their is a grease fitting on the shift connect rod on the motor.

 

[clarky711]

Re: Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

I did disconnect the cable, and the controls were nice and smooth (with the same bends that it normally has when connected). I didn't try to shift the engine manually, I'll try that next. It could be the shift rod, but I'll look into that when I get home from AZ next week. Thanks!

Mike

 

[rcracerx]

Re: Very stiff shifting on 1987 90HP Johnson

My shifter was actually frozen not just tight. I did the cables because I needed them anyways but it still would not shift.

I took the lower unit down and removed the shift rod & its cover. As the previous poster said there are 2 o-ring seals in the shift rod housing - they were frozen solid. I replaced the O-rings cleaned up the shift rod lubed everything and put it back together and it shifts like butter now.

Make sure you can get the shift rod to the exact height it was before you disturbed it. I took a measurement and counted the number of turns I made to remove it. Worked out fine for me.

Rc