1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

[robayles]

Last night I took my boat out for a drive after it had sat up for a couple of weeks do to bad weather. It cranked up fine. I didn't let it warm up as long as I typically do. When I put it in gear it took off pretty fast but was running rough. When I put it neutral it kept going for about 3 or 4 more seconds then would shift into neutral. I have a pretty long canal to navigate before getting to open water so it continued to do this for about 5 minutes, running rough and not coming out of gear for a few seconds after moving shifter to neutral. I got out to open water, put it in neutral, let it sit a minute and then put it in gear. It seemed to be running much smoother. No other problems for the rest of the trip.<br /><br />Any idea what this could have been?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

look for a sticky shift interupt switch.<br /> good luck and keep posting<br /> PS the grease fitting for the shift is all but impossible to grease. look for a lack of lube as well.

 

[robayles]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

So a sticky shift interupt could cause the motor to stay in gear while the shift lever (at helm) moves easily in/out of gear? I've looked at other posts and it says this shift interupt is on the starboard side of the motor. Do I have to remove anything to get to it?

 

[seahorse5]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

Remove the stb. motor pan to get to the shift interupter switch. <br /><br />Be sure to disconnect the shift cable and while turning the prop, actuate the shift lever on the motor by hand to see if it is stiff, corroded, or even "sloppy" due to wear.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

If the switch checks out it may have still been in Quick Start. As the motor idles up it will be hard to shift out of gear. Once it comes out of Quick Start it will shift fine as the idle comes down. <br /><br />Good luck!

 

[robayles]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

I've lubricated the shift interupt switch but the problem is still there. D Hadley mentioned the "quick start" feature on this motor. I have noticed that it takes a long time for the quick start to kick out. This problem appears to be happening when the motor is still in the quick start mode. Yesterday I idled the engine for about 20 minutes and I never heard it kick out of quick start. I check the tell tale water temperature and it was cool after 20 minutes of idling. Could the problem be the engine isn't reaching the operating temperature needed to get it out of quick start?<br /><br />The Big O

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

if a t-stat is hung open or leaking the motor wont warm up and quick start will stay on. if its idling to fast it wont come out of gear smoothly. check the head temps.<br /> good luck and keep posting

 

[robayles]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

I went to change the thermostats this morning, got the cover off and low and behold, there were no thermostats in either bank of cylinders. I put them in turned on the motor and after two minutes of idling I could hear the quick start kick out.<br /><br />Here's the problem I have now. I had a problem this past spring with the engine overheating. I had a mechanic change the thermostats but that didn't help. He then told me he needed to change the temperature sensors as the motor was being told it was overheating when, in fact, it wasn't. He did all this and I paid him around $300 total for everything.<br /><br />Could it be he just left the thermostats out and didn't change the temperature sensor. The motor has run great all season until this happened. Could the motor have run fine all summer with no thermostats. It just started idling rough and running rich (smoking much more than normal). I don't want to accuse my mechanic of cheating me. Maybe they were stolen from the motor. <br /><br />Can someone help me out here?<br /><br />The Big O

 

[robayles]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

I went to change the thermostats this morning, got the cover off and low and behold, there were no thermostats in either bank of cylinders. I put them in turned on the motor and after two minutes of idling I could hear the quick start kick out.<br /><br />Here's the problem I have now. I had a problem this past spring with the engine overheating. I had a mechanic change the thermostats but that didn't help. He then told me he needed to change the temperature sensors as the motor was being told it was overheating when, in fact, it wasn't. He did all this and I paid him around $300 total for everything.<br /><br />Could it be he just left the thermostats out and didn't change the temperature sensor. The motor has run great all season until this happened. Could the motor have run fine all summer with no thermostats. It just started idling rough and running rich (smoking much more than normal). I don't want to accuse my mechanic of cheating me. Maybe they were stolen from the motor. <br /><br />Can someone help me out here?<br /><br />The Big O

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

ya got cheated<br /> to much trouble to steal t-stats. what shop over there did it? there are some that are terrible. I worked in the norfolk porstmouth area for years. I can vouch for the service and knowledge of Ron's marine in portsmouth. he will also help a DIYer and stocks pistons,rods carb kits and most any other part you need. he also offers a machine shop service to bore blocks. I UPS them there all the time. but if your T-stats are missing someone was either incompetent or dishonest. either way if I were you I would not go back there<br /><br /> good luck and keep posting

 

[robayles]

Re: 1997 Evinrude 225 Ocean Pro Shift Problem

I took the boat out this morning and it ran great. It idled extremely smooth with minimal smoking and ran well at WOT. No overheat warning alarm. No shifting problems which was what led up to this entire mess. The mechanic is a local mobile mechanic who does work on a number my friends' boats. He's always been reliable in the past. I'm hoping it was an oversight on his part and not trying to rip me off. I've asked him to call me to discuss what might have happened.<br /><br />Thanks for everyone's help. This site is the best. I'm new to boating and I've saved quite a bit of money already by looking into problems here and fixing things myself.<br /><br />The Big O