I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

[jwilkey84]

So I was working on this 71 johnson hydro electric shift LU, when I dropped the forward gear on the floor and busted one of the four little ears that is on the front side of the gear. This may sound dumb, but will it still work? I'm not sure what those 4 little ears do, but I'm hoping that 3 out of four will be ok. Otherwise I'm out $200 for a new gear. Just to be clear, this ear I am talking about sits clear in the very front of the LU housing, its not the part that engages the vertical drive shaft, its on the very front side of the gear and it interlocks into part of the hydroelectric shift mechanism I think. Maybe someone can tell me what those little ears actually do and whether or not I have to buy a new gear. Thanks, BTW I am never working on a hydroelectric shift LU again, I had one guy at a local marina tell me the best way to fix a Hydroelectric shift motor was to take it out to the middle of the lake and loosen the two screws on the back and send her to the bottom, I think he might have been right!

 

[rockyrude]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

Those four ears drive the oil pump in the front of the lower unit. It is what provides the pressure to shift. I'm not sure if the out of balance will cause problems, but I just picked up a NOS forward gear for my '69 on flea bay for $20.

 

[F_R]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

Aw come on, the Hydro Electric isn't all that bad. I'll bet you don't have a worn out clutch dog, do you? Can't say that about the mechanical shifts. And mechanical shifts are no easier to work on.

Anyhoo, yes the ears drive the oil pump. Since I've never tried running a broken one, I can't say with authority what the result would be. But probably no problem. Feeling lucky?? I guess not, by now.

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

I was hoping to steal the gears out of a 1969 55 hp, and put into this 1971 60hp motor, but according to the part numbers the gears are the same part number, but the clutch is different, anybody know why that is?

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

well the guy I am working on it for said it would clunk and jump and bang under hardly any load at all, so I think it must be the clutch. It is a little worn, and so are the gears, but I dont know how much wear it takes to make it jump out of gear. The LU also leaked some water, could that cause the LU not to stay in gear? Is ther some kind of adjustment I can make on the LU to make it shift correctly? I know what you are saying about the electric vs. the manual as far as wear and tear, you would think the electric shift wouldnt self destroy the clutch and gears over time by shifting!

 

[F_R]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

Well, no I don't know what the dog differences are. Trying to sift through the parts books, I see that the original gear numbers are the same, but the forward gears are superseded by a new number for "gearset and pin assembly". The '71 clutch dog is also superseded. I dunno, you got me.

 

[nate1220]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

To answer you question, yes water leaking in will make it shift funny and pop out of gear and do all sorts of other funny things. The hydro electric shift LU depends on a specific oil viscosity. when you "water down" the oil the viscosity changes and you end up with shift problems. Most of the time they just won't go into reverse.

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: I dropped a gear on my garage floor and busted part of it, will it still work?

well I took the 1969 55hp LU apart and found out why the gears are the same as a 1971 60hp, but not the clutch. The gears still ride on the smooth part of the shaft, but the clutch for the 55 has more splines than the one on the 1971 60hp. Also the length of the splines on the back where the prop slides on is different for both years, but I wonder if I can use the bottom shaft out of the 69 55hp motor and stick it in the housing for the 71 60hp model. Everhthing looks the same except the splines on the clutch dog area and the length of the splined area where you slide the prop on. any thoughts...........?