'56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Drumroll...............we have "pee"!!! Must have not had it lined up properly in the water tube, that's all I can think of. So happy when I saw that water spraying out of the back (and I did run the garden hose up and through the water tube first, all came back out just fine..I'm working in the driveway/grass so I don't mind the mess). It was getting later in the day, sun sets earlier now so I called mom to see how she was feeling and if she was ready to go for our 2 year awaited lake ride!! She said sure! I got it all hooked up to the truck, had to hurry to get things together and headed to the lake before she got there (she insists on driving herself although I really wish she wouldn't at her age and with her health problems). I got it in the water and wanted to do a test start up before she arrived but she pulled in just as I was pulling the trailer out. I helped her get into the boat and finally got the picture of her in it again after all these years! SO very happy!!! I got in, started it up and checked for water spray but noticed, what the heck?? We were going backwards towards the ramp (I'd had it repositioned facing out towards the lake when she got in it). Huh? It was in neutral! I hit the kill switch and my mind went blank. I put it into forward and restarted it....purred like a well fed tiger...and forward behaved as if it were neutral. :facepalm: I had no forward. Thankfully mom was a great sport about it, laughed because it going backwards towards the ramp reminded her of the time Dad told her to turn it on and she turned the key not knowing it was in forward and high throttle and ended up driving it up the ramp, scraping all the way, motor howling. Thank God I didn't do THAT but dang it, I wasn't going to be able to take her for a spin...not unless I went backwards the whole way! She was SO happy just to be on the boat and on the lake again, smiling ear to ear so we just sat there listening to the motor idle, enjoying the smell of the 2 cycle motor polluting the lake and watching the gulls and blue heron chase jumping fish. Another guy put his fancy fishing boat in the water and the jerk kind of smirked at my old boat until my mom piped up that "MY daughter restored this whole thing completely by herself!! Motor and everything! And it's 47 years old!!" I didn't get to take her for a ride out further but that made it worth while..she was so happy and she was proud of me. October 19th would have been my dad's birthday and if the weather is good, I'm going to get this issue solved and get it out there one more time with my mom. I'm sure you guys will give me advice as to what I boogered up with the shifting and I'll get 'er done. Thank you all for being a part of making this dream come true....I'm 99% there!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

You should ask one of the forum moderators to change your forum name to Superwoman!

 

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Haha! Thanks WillyClay! So what's your diagnosis with my shifting gremlin? The only thing I did different this time is that I followed advice to put it into forward gear to raise the coupling for the shift rod up higher so it would be out of the way and I could concentrate on getting the water tube inserted correctly. Then, as advised from High Trim: hold the shift rod and ease it back down into neutral so that the coupler drops down over the shift rod. Be sure that the indent lines up with the hole before installing the bolt. But I might have moved the shift lever to reverse instead of neutral when I reinstalled the bolt. (I had been used to having it in reverse because that put the bolt in direct view for accessing when I needed to remove/install it). If I did that, how do I fix what I did? Does that LU come off yet again to make this right?

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

SWEEEEET!!!! Glad you have circulation! The boat looks great too! Now that it's running, we just gotta get her goin'. You shouldn't need to drop the LU again, if NEU and REV are working. It'll just take some fiddling with the sift rod and coupler through the side window. A good pair of needle nose pliers will help. You can start by removing the shift cable and changing the gears manually while we test them. Next, remove the lower bolt in the shift rod coupler and put the motor into FWD to get it up and out of the way a bit. You should now be able to yank up on the lower shift rod with using the needle nose pliers, which should put the LU into FWD. You can test by rotating the prop clockwise by hand, you should feel it catch within 1/4-1/2 turn. You can then push the shift rod down to put it into REV. Again, you can check by rotating the prop counterclockwise by hand to feel it engage. If that checks out, you know the gears are shifting properly and that the issue is with the coupler. However, if you can't get it into/out of gear as described, the issue may be within the gearcase itself. Give this little test a try and report back. Glad y'all to get on the water for a little while. They don't call them sea trials for nothing!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

My thoughts are 1) Recheck the shift rod clamp inside the access panel and verify BOTH screws are tight and installed in the indents. NOTE: If necessary to loosen the clamp screws, only do one at a time. 2) Verify the motor's shift lever linkage is secure and has not slippped since the last adjustment. 3) Disconnect the remote control shift cable and test run it in a barrel. Do not remove the LU.

 

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Kfa, if I do that and everything checks out, when do I put the screw back in..when it's in a forward or reverse gear or when it's in neutral? Does it matter? It's 11;30 pm and I am seriously thinking about going outside with my headlight flashlight and doing this now!!!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Boat fever ! I usually tug up on the lower shift rod as high as I can with one hand using needle nose pliers, then lower the coupler onto it with the other hand. I then insert the lower bolt in the shift rod coupler, making sure that the bevel in the top of the lower shift rod aligns with the lower hole in the coupler. Take your time putting the bolt in so it doesn't become cross-threaded. Once everything is reconnected, try manually cycling through the gears again. No need to even start the motor, in fact I would remove the spark plugs to avoid and accidental start. You should be able to flip it into FWD, rotate the prop about 1/2 a turn clockwise and feel it engage. When you flip it into REV, you should be able to rotate it about 1/2 a turn counterclockwise before it engages. You should be able to spin it freely in either direction when in neutral.

 

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

hehehe...just got back inside..full case of boat-fever I guess (or I need some OCD medication!) It was very monkeyed up..the shaft wouldn't move down. I did several manual shifts through the gears watching it, trying to put the bolt back in when it was in reverse, then it wouldn't go completely into forward. Took bolt out and fiddled some more, wished I had a way to video what the shaft and coupler were doing. Tried to wiggle the shaft a little while rotating prop while it moved freely in neutral and then rebolted it. Went through all of the gears and this time the prop was coordinated how you told me. Methinks it might be fixed! Dare I even say that? So...if I do a bucket test on it tomorrow..last question for the night, how do I test the forward and reverse since I'd been warned doing that could cause it to chew through the bucket and/or shoot the bucket across the yard? How will I even know if it's going in the right gears if it's in a bucket since the water can churn anyhow from the underwater exhaust? Sounds like it's a required lake test to me but I'd rather not have to do that tomorrow..I have a ton of work ahead of me tomorrow.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Awesome! When in doubt, fiddle about! You can cycle through the gears with it in the test tank. Just stay at low idle. As long as the the prop doesn't hit the side of the tank you'll be fine. While the water will bubble in NEU due the the below water exhaust, you'll know it when you put it into gear. The motor will kick a bit and the water will swirl up and probably land all over your feet Just keep the hose running so the water doesn't get too low. Here are some vids of what to look for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcvOOucRB-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f5zTihAsCw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oafapl_nmCI&feature=related

 

[cgibbo308]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

you can test it without starting it Kath.

is a lil fidley tho not really.

pull the plugs out...
shift neu turn flywheel by hand and watch the prop (shouldnt move.
shift fwd, turn flywheel by hand (this may take a dozen turns or not ) watch prob
shift rev turn flywheel, watch prob.

Only if you dont want to run it or not sure what it will do to your bin/bucket

or instead of turning by hand you can use pliers or screwdriver to short the starter relay and watch the prop. without the plugs in, it will not start without the plugs as you know

cant wait to hear you say its running fine

 

[Willyclay]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Sounds like you have it under control. Good luck with the next test!

 

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Gentlemen......we have SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!! Bucket test (with prop away from bucket side) went perfectly. She idled great (actually the motor sounds healthier now than ever before..maybe a near-death experience was good for it?), bubbled water in Neutral, spun it like crazy in forward and reverse all the while peeing like a man after a drunken night on the town!

I believe I shall officially put this SEVEN PAGE thread to rest now. Except I will definitely post the follow up picture of my mom and siblings and I in the boat in comparison to the black and white picture from 1966. And I'm going to get a picture of my mom at the wheel tooling down the lake (in forward gear for a change!).

Could NOT have done it without all the help from you folks, most especially WillyClay, kfa and High Trim who stuck by me the entire journey. I have learned so much but most importantly I have made wonderful friends. I can't offer any boat advice back at you but if anyone has any dental questions, I'm all yours!

Love you all!
Kathy

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

AWESOME Kathy !!!!!!! Grrrrrl Power! Of course, it doesn't count unless we have pics Keep us posted on the next trip out onto the water. We wanna see hair blowing in the breeze and spray coming off the bow! Happy boating! Vroom-vroom..........

 

[HighTrim]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Im glad to hear all is well, you definately earned your pay on that one!

You would be surprised I think by the amount of knowledge you now posess. There is no better way to learn than to have issues unfortunately.

Enjoy the water.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Simply awesome! Thanks for bringing us along for the ride. I hope you will return to the forum while you "make it pretty". Be safe!

 

[cgibbo308]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

breaks open a case of pi$s and hands round the cans.. woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
we all told you, you could do it Kath.

 

[KathyD19]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Thanks everyone. Even in my most frustrated and discouraged times with this, I try to look at it as I try with everything in life: it's an OPPORTUNITY. Even bad things are opportunities: to learn, to grow, to rely on others, to help others, etc. My son loves to tell me that "bad things happening make for good stories later on". So very true and so wise for a 19 year old! I can't believe that I, little ol' me, just got a PM from a new member on here asking ME for advice on her '57 Javelin!!! Wow!!!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

So very true and so wise for a 19 year old!

Apples don't fall far from the tree!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

Thanks everyone. Even in my most frustrated and discouraged times with this, I try to look at it as I try with everything in life: it's an OPPORTUNITY. Even bad things are opportunities: to learn, to grow, to rely on others, to help others, etc. My son loves to tell me that "bad things happening make for good stories later on". So very true and so wise for a 19 year old! I can't believe that I, little ol' me, just got a PM from a new member on here asking ME for advice on her '57 Javelin!!! Wow!!!

Ah...the student becomes the master We still want some pics of you tearing up the local waterways.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: '56 Johnson Javelin Shift/Throttle problem

......I see. She gets her motor all fixed up and we never hear from her again Must be vroom-vrooming all over the lake. Hope all is well Kathy.