1978 Johnson Stinger 75 HP will not go into reverse

[Further North]

It feels like it's going in when I have it out of the water with muffs on it, but would not engage reverse when in the water last weekend.

Any chance this is just a linkage adjustment issue?

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1978 Johnson Stinger 75 HP will not go into reverse

Hi Further North,
Easy enough to check... disconnect the shift cable at the motor and attempt to shift it into reverse manually using the shift bellcrank that the cable was attached to. Motor at idle, boat firmly tied to the dock, of course...
If the motor does shift properly this way, then you may have a mis-adjusted or stretched cable. Did the boat work properly before or is it new to you?
- Scott

 

[Further North]

Re: 1978 Johnson Stinger 75 HP will not go into reverse

Scott,

The boat is new to me.

When moving the lever back, you can feel it try to engage but kind of rattles aolong what feels like gear teeth.

 

[Further North]

Re: 1978 Johnson Stinger 75 HP will not go into reverse

Played with and adjusted the linkage at the end of the cable tonight - feels like it's engaging both forward and reverse.

Thanks for the help!