Force 120 tranny drop

[Capt.Brettski]

After a boat tear asses ahead of me, throwing is monster wake in my face, karma kicks in and one of motor died right in front of me. It scared the hell out of me so I slammed the boat on reverse. It ran fine the rest of the ride in but what I got to the finger dock reverse wouldn't engage. Just kinda had a grinding noise. Anythoughts?

 

[pnwboat]

Re: Force 120 tranny drop

Sounds like either the clutch dog or the clutch dog lugs on the reverse gear have been damaged.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Force 120 tranny drop

Grinding noises inside a lower unit are never good. Is the lower grinding, or is it rattling like it is not engaging fully? If it is rattling, then first check the linkages.

If it is grinding, especially if you hear grinding noises when you spin the prop by hand in neutral, it is time to disassemble the lower unit BEFORE using it again. Unless, of course, you like to support Tow Boats USA.

Read the next post down, "Knocking under load' This lower unit ran well except for not engaging gears easily, yet was completely trashed upon opening. It doesn't take a lot of the gear teeth to continue running at less than full throttle. SO: Just because it ran well and got you back to the dock does not mean there is no damage.

On the other hand, maybe there really is minimal to no damage.

 

[Capt.Brettski]

Re: Force 120 tranny drop

Well when I put it in reverse it sounded like it wanted engage but couldn't. However when it's in neutral and spin the prop by hand it clicks. Not free spin. So if it's the fears in the lower unit i'm pretty much screwed huh?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Force 120 tranny drop

No. Drive dogs are tapered so if you turn the prop by hand, they will ramp up over each other and drop back down with an audible click. This would indicate an adjustment problem. In neutral, the dogs from either gear should not be engaging so you need to first check for bent linkage and mal=adjusted cables. If these prove OK, then you need to adjust the neutral position. I suspect that at this point, the clutch is biased too far forward so there is not enough engagement in reverse to fully lock up. Forward is down so to adjust, muve the two nuts under the lower carb. Run the bottom one down 1/2 turn then tighten the upper one. This will lift up the shift rod. Do it only 1/2 turn at a time because total shift throw is little and small adjustments make a big difference.