'56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

[samo_ott]

Re: '56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

The shift lever does come off on this one. Just have to remove the screw and bolt and it will slide off. Even when I move the bell crank all the way to the clockwise position with the lever off, it still will not engage in forward. I'm missing by about an eighth of an inch. It's just in between neutral and forward. If I can move the lower shift rod up an eighth of an inch in that brass colored coupler in the leg, it should do the trick, correct? I just need it to pull it up a little higher. What do you guys think?

Ok, yes, the lever does remove. I included the shaft with the lever. The shaft does not come out. You do not need to remove the lever, just loosen the screws a bit. Then in the forward position, with a screwdriver, I lift the coupling in the oval port to raise the relative position of the shift rod while the shifter lever stays in the same position. That's how I adjust it.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: '56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

What Steve said...I've learned to do this each time I pull & reinstall a lower unit, as part of securing the shift rod in the coupler/connector.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: '56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

While you have it apart, check and make sure the upper portion of the shift rod is tight and doesn't have any up and down slop. I've needlessly rebuilt a l/u or two, because of the shift rod being loose on the bell crank

 

[greatoutdoors]

Re: '56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

Ok, yes, the lever does remove. I included the shaft with the lever. The shaft does not come out. You do not need to remove the lever, just loosen the screws a bit. Then in the forward position, with a screwdriver, I lift the coupling in the oval port to raise the relative position of the shift rod while the shifter lever stays in the same position. That's how I adjust it.

So, Since I have the lever off, just hold the bellcrank all the way in the forward position and I will be able to move the coupler up to where I need it to engage in forward? Will that loosen anything internally up in the leg towards where the bellcrank is? Sorry for all the questions guys, and thank you for being so helpful. This really is a great forum. I just want to get this baby going, the motor itself runs great, and I cant wait to get these 30 horses pushing my little 14 footer around. I have a feeling it's really going to rip.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: '56 Evinrude 30hp coming out of gear

Up where the upper shift rod mounts, there is a bolt with a locktab washer. Occasionally, these will loosen up and the upper portion of the shift rod will get sloppy on the bell crank. The bellcrank, of course is inside the upper part of the motor leg, where the shift rod goes in. With the lower unit off, you should be able to grab the shift rod with a pair of long nose pliers and jiggle the rod and see if there is any up and down slop while the shift lever is locked into any position. Unfortunately, you'll need to pull the powerhead and tighten this up, should you find out it is loose, but this often times will lead people to believe their lower unit is going bad, when it really isn't. When I started my outboard repair business years ago, I needlessly rebuilt a lower unit on a 60hp Gale. The guy was nice enough to tear it down for me, so the blunder wasn't mine. but when I was getting ready to bolt the lower unit back on, I noticed that the upper shift rod, was unusually sloppy. I grabbed it with a pair of long nose pliers and saw about a 1/4" of up and down play in it. The guy did end up with a nicely rebuilt lower unit, but that really wasn't his problem. I, myself actually learned a few things about the deception shift rod linkage and adjustments can give us about "bad lower units" A few good things to check first, before making a tear down. The color of the oil is also another good thing to check. If your clutch dog, or your bearings are bad, the oil will have a burnt look.