1996' Johnson 225 Oceanrunner problem, 4th of July weekend, need advice please

[cobbcfi]

Since last summer, my reverse has been quirky... Light grinding into reverse last fall before it locked in. Changed the foot oil this spring and grinding has gone from bad to worse with the engine POPPING and JUMPING while trying to reverse. The popping/banging in reverse got to the point that it was kicking in and out of gear. LOST reverse last weekend. The shifter handle glides into the reverse position without much resistance at all and there is very minimal grinding but no attempt to engage reverse.

Have I snapped some linkage or do I have gear teeth rolling around in my lower unit? The obvious test is to drain the foot oil and check for metal in it but I would like to know if you guys could tell me how to shift it into reverse at the motor to see if I can engage reverse before I start draining oil. Also, what is the recommend lower unit oil for a 1996 Johnson 226 Outboard. The following links are the gear lube that I put in my lower unit because that's what I was told to use by West Marine employees so I didn't give it much thought to read the bottle that said Mercury Sterndrives and DO NOT USE IN OMC ELECTRIC SHIFT GEAR CASES. I don't have an electric shift do I??

http://www.boatbandit.com/quicksilver--high-performance-gear-lube-5001.aspx

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=441232&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10106&subdeptNum=10434&classNum=10438

Thanks in advance for your help.. Happy boating and be safe this weekend please!! We already had a fatality on our lake in SC last weekend. Poor kid got pulled into the props. :-(

 

[mikesea]

Re: 1996' Johnson 225 Oceanrunner problem, 4th of July weekend, need advice please

I think you have a cable problem.Disconnect the cable at eng.with eng running and with water connected ,without putting yourself in way of prop,manuall try shifting at the point where cable connects.That will indicate a lower unit prob. or not.next or first,with someone at control ,eng dont need to be running ,cable disconnected ,hold the end that connects to eng,have someone operate the handle and check for looseness.Put eng in the neutral position,adjust cable so that the ferral (thing that slides into cable holder )fits evenly into the holder put the hold down back and see if adjustment was OK.The gear oil is fine,selectric was yrs ago

 

[cobbcfi]

Re: 1996' Johnson 225 Oceanrunner problem, 4th of July weekend, need advice please

Thank you for the advice.. I'll go and give it a try, I hope that is indeed the problem..

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1996' Johnson 225 Oceanrunner problem, 4th of July weekend, need advice please

I think you initially had a cable problem but have probably since escalated it to a gear/clutch problem.