Johnson 15hp 1990 slips into neutral

[mikegheenoe]

I have a question about my outboard. While I am throttling forward in water, the engine will slip into neutral. It wont slip at all when running it with muffs. But it only slips a couple of times throughout the whole day. Any ideas??
thanks

 

[ob]

Re: Johnson 15hp 1990 slips into neutral

Either the shift linkage is out of adjustment(unlikely) or the shift dawg and/or forward gear lobes are worn and when under water load will not remain engaged.Many times this is caused from shifting from neutral to forward too slowly which allows the gear surfaces to grind before engaging.

 

[darrklim2]

Re: Johnson 15hp 1990 slips into neutral

Either the shift linkage is out of adjustment(unlikely) or the shift dawg and/or forward gear lobes are worn and when under water load will not remain engaged.Many times this is caused from shifting from neutral to forward too slowly which allows the gear surfaces to grind before engaging.

Agreed

 

[mikegheenoe]

Re: Johnson 15hp 1990 slips into neutral

Thanks OB, now how much of a project is changing out the clutch dog?? On a scale of 1 to 10...10 being the hardest, how would you rate that project?? thanks again for your time!

 

[ob]

Re: Johnson 15hp 1990 slips into neutral

If your problem indeed lies in the lower unit it will require a tear down of the intermnal components.I would rate the difficulty in performing the lower unit task about a 4 with the proper special tools and tech manual and about an 11 without.Particularly if it is your first.