1946Zephyr
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2008
- Messages
- 5,556
Re: 35hp evinrude lark question.
One thing you might want to check is how much play there is in the upper portion of the shift rod. Simply remove the upper portion from the coupler, completely, put the shifter in the forward position and take ahold of the upper shift rod with a pair of long nose pliers. Check and see how much up and down play there is. There really shouldn't be any. If there is, then it's likely your linkage has loosened up at the bellcrank. Unfortunately, the powerhead will need to be removed to fix this problem.
I've had customers do needless teardowns on their lower units, on count of loose shiftrods or simply out of adjustment issues.
My very first customer had a 1962 Gale 60hp and I learned about this, by accident. Of course, he already had the lower unit torn down, by the time I got there, but after I got the unit all put back together for him, I saw a lot of up and down slop in the upper shift rod. So I pulled the powerhead, only to find that the clamping bolt on the bellcrank had loosened up.
You only need about 1/32" of slop to make your motor jump out of gear.
Once you reconnect the shift rod, make sure the linkage is adjusted properly.
One thing you might want to check is how much play there is in the upper portion of the shift rod. Simply remove the upper portion from the coupler, completely, put the shifter in the forward position and take ahold of the upper shift rod with a pair of long nose pliers. Check and see how much up and down play there is. There really shouldn't be any. If there is, then it's likely your linkage has loosened up at the bellcrank. Unfortunately, the powerhead will need to be removed to fix this problem.
I've had customers do needless teardowns on their lower units, on count of loose shiftrods or simply out of adjustment issues.
My very first customer had a 1962 Gale 60hp and I learned about this, by accident. Of course, he already had the lower unit torn down, by the time I got there, but after I got the unit all put back together for him, I saw a lot of up and down slop in the upper shift rod. So I pulled the powerhead, only to find that the clamping bolt on the bellcrank had loosened up.
You only need about 1/32" of slop to make your motor jump out of gear.
Once you reconnect the shift rod, make sure the linkage is adjusted properly.