78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

[gn-1]

Great forum guys, hope you can help. I recently accuired this motor and it seems to work fine except for one thing. When in reverse it seems to jump in and out of gear, especially at higher throttle. The guy I bought it from said he used to put it gear after pulling it out of the lake so the prop would'nt turn going down the road. He had to have it worked on because it got to where he couldnt put it gear. His mechanic told him that putting it in gear "dry" is what caused this. Is this true? any insight would be appreciated.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

1st is this a tiller or remote controlled motor?

 

[gn-1]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Tiller

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Are you sure the reverse lock is on? Is the motor tilting up when throttled up in reverse? If not, then I would have a look at the linkage and see if it needs adjusting to make sure it's going all the way into reverse. I doubt that "Dry" shifting has done any harm, unless he forced it into gear without spinning the prop a bit. I always put mine in gear when trailering and never had a problem...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

try holding the shift lever when in reverse. see if the handle moves when it jumps out. if the handle doesn't move i would guess is the clutch dog, if the handle moves the shift linkage, in other words it's not going all the way in gear.

 

[gn-1]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

The reverse lock is probably the problem. I have always left it unlocked on my two previous motors (6hp and 15hp) in case I hit a stump or log, as this motor is on my duck boat. I guess this 25 has enough power to rise up, something I never noticed with the smaller motors. Do you know where I can get a service manual for this motor? I looked at the ones on here but they are not very model specific. Thanks for your advice.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

http://www.kencook.com/evinrudejohnsonmanuals/ ] Click Here [/url]

And check Ebay....

 

[F_R]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Clue "He had to have it worked on because it got to where he couldn't put it gear." The genius so-called mechanic (I use the word loosly) probably swapped the clutch dog end for end so the worn-out forward end now engages the reverse gear. So now the reverse is worn out. Bright huh? If you want it fixed you have to replace the worn out dog and gear (s). Ok, so you'll have to mortgage the farm to pay for it, but I can't help you there.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Another possibility is that the shift linkage got bent, the mechanic straightened it but too much so it's favoring forward. If you can contact the guy and find out what the mechanic did (fix linkage or disassemble gearcase and flip the dog) you would have a pretty good idea where the problem lays.

The shift linkage may be adjusted from the shift handle. You should be able to feel the detents in the lower unit if you back off the shift quadrant (runs up the side of the block) and shift. Don't forget to rotate the prop a little while you do. See if when the neutral/middle detent is selected the pin on the shift handle is in the neutral quadrant on the quadrant bar. If it's way out, adjust the shift handle.

 

[gn-1]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Running kinda blind here but I have ordered a manual. By quardrant do you mean the one peice bar that the roller from the shft handle rides on? I dont see any way to back that off without removing it. One other note I forgot to mention, it seems real hard to find nuetral on this motor. On the water when ever I would kick it out of gear I would put it all the way back into reverse about half the time then I would have to come back to nuetral. It just happened to me out there trying to see if I could feel the detents. Is this a tale tale sign of problems or can that be adjusted out with the quardrant?

 

[F_R]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

Aha, the plot thickens. Now you are talking like the shift linkage is very badly worn or broken. Take the oval plate off the midsection, about half way down and look in there to see if the shift rod (s) move up and down as he handle is moved. There should be no lag or slack. When the handle moves, the rods should move and should not be loose in the brass connector. Also, there is a lever inside the housing on the inner end of the rod to which the shift handle is attached. That lever could be loose. Or, check if there is a lot of up-and-down movement in the shift handle shaft (worn hole in the housing). All this stuff is pretty common.

 

[gn-1]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

O.K. I took the inspection plate off and everything seems to function properly, the rod moves with the handle very nicely. Also there does not seem to be any slop in the shift handle so I dont think the housig is worn. I did however notice that ther were several shims behind the handle where it attaches to the rod. Since I dont have my manual yet I dont know if those are factory. Maybe someone put them there to help hold it into gear as they are what is making it so hard to move the handle hence to find nuetral. I hope this is clear.

 

[gn-1]

Re: 78 Johnson 25 hp jumping out of gear in reverse

ttt