1978 70HP Johnson lower unit issues

[oldsub86]

Motor made an odd noise while running and now will not shift out of forward. Shifter moves the cables etc but the prop stays in forward.
Pulled the drain plug and there are some filings or shavings on the magnet. Not much evidence of metal in the drained oil.
Guessing something broke in the shifter mechanism so about to tear it apart to have a look.
Anyone had this happen and been there and done this??

Would be interested in hearing what you found.

 

[oldsub86]

We got it apart tonight. Tried a couple of nights ago but did not have snap ring pliers big enough to remove the two snap rings.
Pretty much all bad news. It would appear that the nut came off of the end of the driveshaft and got caught up in the gears.
At a minimum we would need drive shaft, gears clutch etc so it is probably best to look for a used lower unit.
Unfortunate but we have had many good years out of this motor and very little trouble so it is hard to complain too loudly.

 

[racerone]

It depends on your location but there are many good lower units available for these motors.