1975 Evinrude 9.9hp won't shift out of reverse

[starcraftkid]

A year or two ago I bought a clean used 9.9hp as a spare or alternate for my 14ft boat.
The motor runs great, pumps water and did nothing wrong the first five or six times I used it. Back in Oct. I put it up for the winter, I drained the the lower unit and installed a new impeller to be ready for this year. It for what ever reason got hung up in the garage next to my other motors for the winter. We're supposed to get some warmer weather this week so I pulled it down, mixed up some fresh gas and hung it in a barrel for a test run. Full choke and the second pull and it was running, it was in reverse so I reached for the shifter and it won't budge.
I shut it down to investigate and its stuck down low. I pulled the lower unit (after some fiddling around trying to get the shift rods separated in the full down position, and I can see the lower rod is stuck in its bushing, It won't unscrew, it won't shift, nothing. I filled the cavity up with some hot penetrating oil in hopes it might work down into the bushing but no such luck.
When I did the impeller I unscrewed the shift rod and cleaned it off, wiped some oil on the rod and put it together. It hadn't been used since. It shifted fine when I put it up and I had pressure checked it with soap ad water to double check the shift rod seals and all was good. Now the rod seems all but welded into the bushing.
Whats worse is this thing came from out in MO where there's no saltwater and its never been run in the salt here either. (I have a spare lower but I'd prefer to save this one since its so clean.
Any ideas as to how to free it?

 

[Crosbyman]

Odd it should turn ccw to unscrew from the shifter . Me up the creek... I would wrap the shift rod to protect it & clamp a visegrip then try firm upward persuasion .. not drastic

but others will suggest something for sure. .

try turning the drive shaft while you try to shift.

 

[racerone]

One bolt MUST be taken out of the connecter when removing lower unit.------Notch on shift rod MUST line up before bolt is put in.----Propshaft must be turning when you try and shift.-----

 

[Crosbyman]

I think the connector has been taken care of if he dropped the LU

I pulled the lower unit (after some fiddling around trying to get the shift rods separated in the full down position, and I can see the lower rod is stuck in its bushin

 

[starcraftkid]

The lower unit is off and on the bench. I cut out a block of wood to hold it in an 8" vise.
I had to use a combination of various wrenches to get in there to get the one clamp bolt out as it was not showing in the gap.
The shift rod won't budge, it don't unscrew and won't even move in any direction even in the slightest. It as if its welded to the brass bushing. I tried tapping on it with a mallet and twisting it with vice grips and there's zero movement. I drilled a hole in a piece of brass and sawed it down the middle to make a pair of mini soft jaws so I could use vice grips to lock onto the shaft and then tried a slid hammer to attempt to move the thing in either direction but it won't budge even the slightest.

Something is not right because its in forward and the lower rod and top clamp bolt is below the top edge of the housing. Usually if I pull the lower unit bolts out the thing drops down a bit and exposes the clamp screws when in forward but its as if its in reverse height wise.

 

[cyclops222]

More gorilla DIY PM.

 

[starcraftkid]

For now I just stuck another lower on the thing to get it going again.

I gave up playing nice with the thing and put a vice grip and slide hammer on it and let 'er rip. It snapped the shift rod off about 1/4" into the bushing. I'm not sure of the lower will come apart with the shift rod attached to the shift fork or not?
I may have to just drive the bottom of the shaft down through the bushing in hopes of crushing the shift fork yoke so I can pull the bushing out and get the lower apart.

What I can't figure out is how it got so bad so fast. It was fresh water and I only sat there fishing for an hour or so. When I went to restart it was in gear and the shifter wouldn't move.
At this point its more curiosity than fixing it, but I hate to let a good lower unit housing go.

 

[Crosbyman]

you could always try some heat on the shift rod near the bushing to see what happens
or... freeze it (rod) or the bushing. keyboarb spray cans from the Dollar stores held upside down will freeze it quickly just as good as more expensive freeze sprays. just ventilate while doing it

one or the other solution should cause some expansion or retraction
ex: heat up the bushing then freeze the shift rod or try the reverse process

strangely I have used Dupont teflon based "snowblower spray" on some real tuff car wheel nuts and it worked.

 

[racerone]

A 50 year old lower unit needs to come apart for inspection.----Be easy to remove broken piece from yoke.----Then remove bushing and clean it up.-----No hammer required at all I think.

 

[cyclops222]

I prefer to never do any PM. Just sell the motor as is. To a unsuspecting buyer. ????

 

[Crosbyman]

good reason to have only one eye ;-)

 

[cyclops222]

I only see the more enjoyable parts. All LEFT parts are sinister.

 

[racerone]

The issue with this lower unit is an easy fix on my work bench.-----Just need to understand these simple lower units.

 

[cyclops222]

The really risky repairs are the ones that DO DO require adding the correct amount of shims to work correctly.
Almost every set of....... RIGHT ANGLE GEARS.....may require some shims.

 

[racerone]

Sorry mate.----These precision 9.9 / 15 HP lower units do not need / use any shims !

 

[starcraftkid]

The motor ran fine all day Saturday with a spare lower unit on it but I had to fiddle with the shift rod a bit to get it to work right. The motor is a '75 model (10524C). I had a lower unit off a 15hp of the same year so it even matches the paint color. I had resealed the spare lower a few years ago to have for a spare for another motor.

Last weekend I drained the stuck lower unit and refilled it with PB Blaster. and left it laying on its side on my drain table with a pair of vice grips clamped on the shift rod with the weight of the gear case pushing it in the unscrew direction. It sat like that for 8 days.

This morning I noticed the lower unit was laying flat. The shift rod was free and able to turn. It lost no PB blaster at all.
It shifts and moves as it should now. I drained the PB Blaster out into a clean jar and its spotless clean. I flushed it with some cheap gear oil and ran it with a drill in both directions and it seems fine, I pulled the shift rod out and there's not so much as a mark on the rod or the bushing that I can see. I cleaned wiped it down and reinstalled it and pressure checked it for an hour and it seems fine. I refilled it and set it aside for now. If I get time I'll stick it on a motor and run it in a tank for a bit and see what happens before spending any money on it.

I was fully expecting to have to hammer out the shift rod and bushing and to find it corroded somehow but the motor is spotless that way. I tend to avoid motors from saltwater areas for that very reason.
I thought about maybe the shift fork jumped out of place but if it had it wouldn't have fixed itself just sitting there and no matter how hard I shift it it doesn't jam up again. I was also expecting the shift rod o ring to be leaking but I couldn't make it leak.

I've got 9 or more of these motors in the storage trailer outback plus a few parts motors. I bought the contents of an old OMC dealer about 20 years ago but I still grab any decent looking motor that I find for cheap in my travels, this one looked to be a good runner with likely low hours. Maybe I found why it looks like its got so little use on it.

 

[Mc Tool]

Pixies ?

 

[Crosbyman]

Great news ..creative approach to problem solving ! Can't say I ever seen it done that way. On the other hand can't say that condition (stuck hard shifter ) ever came up that I remember in my 18 years of reading on this board and AOMCI's . My only stuck hard (seized pistons ) problem was my precious and still running 9.5 9622a I paid $50 cdn. PBblaster took a week , a hammer, wood peg and patience the oiling instruction tag was still on it after 60 years...