40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

[achoefs]

alright im new here. i was told to come here from a member from my car club.
i have a 40yr old Johnson motor which i got from my grandpa to use for fishing or whatever. it has run fine for all its life and i noticed the last time out that there was little bit of oil in the water not more than a drop when i started it up. after driving it it went from drive to neutral twice with out me shifting. i had to shift from drive to neutral to drive to move forward. i have checked it out and there is a crack in the lower unit in the front (on the round edge that faces forward) about half an inch up from the drain plug.....


so my questions are

is there any one out there that lives with in 2-300 miles of Racine, Wisconsin that could help fix this lower unit?

how much is it going to cost?

first boat and i would like to keep it due to its history

 

[F_R]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

Post your question at www.aomci.org on their Ask-A-Member forum. Thre are over 260 menbers in Wisconsin, plus a lot more in Illinois. I'll bet somebody will volunteer to help you.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

Yep, it looks like your lower unit needs some attention. How does the gearcase oil look?

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

ya im pretty new to the whole water sport motors. i have raced canoes for years so didnt know much about the outboard.....

when i got the boat on the trailer i looked to see if there was gear oil and there isnt any. so i added some and where the crack is the oil started to seep out literally rightwhen the oil got to the lower plug.

ill check out the other site also. just looking for help where ever i can get it

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

so ya no oil like previously stated glad i got it to the dock but need help fixing the internals and weld the crack in the case

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

Ouch. A cracked lower unit huh? Well, it might be easier to replace the housing, than to fix the crack. These old 6's are great motors, so it's worth your time and money to fix it up. They're actually easy to work on and a lot of helpful people here incase you have questions. I have a motor a few years newer than yours and it's a dandy.

 

[steelespike]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

You may be able to find a whole lower unit(gearcase) and simply swap it out.
If the crack is in the bottom cover no need to weld but gearcase may require some major parts.

 

[BigB9000]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

What year is your engine? or just give us the model number off the side.

The lower unit is extremely easy to work on. I didn't think so until I took one apart. Here is the reassembly run down:

1) gather all parts

2) Install shift rod and shift fork (?)

3) Install gear onto shaft

4) Install drive shaft and gear into housing

5) Install Prop shaft/gear assembly

 

[BigB9000]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

F) Install, and alight shifter parts

7) Install new spaghetti seal onto skeg.

8) Install onto lower, and bolt together

9) Install bearing plate onto housing (with gasket! not pictured)

Install prop, water pump, and other parts, and enjoy years to come of boating!


Now keep in mind I didn't show the installation of the new seals on the prop shaft, drive shaft, or shift rod, and didnt show putting the screw that holds the shift lever steady, and your supposed to oil the parts before assembly, but you get the jist of it?

Take it apart, have it welded, order a seal kit here on iboats, and call it a day.

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

heck ya i want to keep it. it hadnt ran in three years out new spark plugs and gear oil in it and it ran beautifully. took it easy for the first four hrs and let her opne up the last four and thats when it cracked. i figure if i would try to keep the part numbers as close to original as posible. ill see if i can get the numbers on the lower unit this week (in storage right now). if all else fails it does look easy to do myself

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

Holy gads BigB9000. what happened to the paint there? LOL Looks like someone had a hayday with a scratch awl.

If the crack is on the lower skeg part, you could easily get away with just replacing that. The bearing hubs will align everything as you put it together. If it's cracked above, then you may need a new housing. If you could find a complete lower unit cheap enough, then that would be the way to go.

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

its cracked about half an inch just above and to the left (front) of the lower drainplug

 

[BigB9000]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

Holy gads BigB9000. what happened to the paint there? LOL Looks like someone had a hayday with a scratch awl.

I think its a 1963, so who knows what it has been through. It came with one of my parts motors, I have no need for it, the plan was to sand blast then paint it. you can see how far I got with it.

its cracked about half an inch just above and to the left (front) of the lower drainplug

Right where the screw for the Shift rod fork attaches.
you need a new skeg.

new from factory:
0382574 GEARCASE, BUSHING & PIN ASSY $185.00 USD

Check ebay though.

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

ya thanks for the info. ill see if i can still get the numbers off the lower unit. since i go it from my grandpa anh he got it from his late friend ill have to find the year it was made and find the manuals, (i think i found them on here)

 

[BigB9000]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

ya thanks for the info. ill see if i can still get the numbers off the lower unit. since i go it from my grandpa anh he got it from his late friend ill have to find the year it was made and find the manuals, (i think i found them on here)

You probably wont find any numbers on the lower unit. I would look on the transom clamp for the black plate, that will have the model number on it.

 

[achoefs]

Re: 40 yr old 6hp johnson need help!

ooohhh that might not be there. ill check but i dont think its there we will see.

i hope it is