Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

[austin7777]

We have a Johnson 1971 50 HP outboard that we been having gear shift problems with for the last year. It will not shift out of forward gear whatever we try. I understand this model uses the hydro electric shifting system that defaults to the forward gear and only shifts when current is supplied to the solenoids. I have done the following fault finding:
Taken the lower leg off
Checked both selenoids, cleaned and rebuilt
Checked cable down to the solenoids
Ran mineral spirit through the gearcase oil reservoir to flush it out
Used the Johnson premium Lube
Still the motor only shifts into neutral/reverse occassionally
After I rebuilt the lower leg AGAIN yesterday, went into the garage this morning and found the following (see picture), as you can see all the oil from the gear case has leaked out from somewhere (from where the prop meets the gearcase it looks like).

Has anyone seen this before or can suggest what I should look at next (I believe there is some sort of oil pump located at the bottom of the gearcase, I have not looked into that yet)

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

How did you check the solenoids? Unless you did the proply electrical check, you really don't know if they work.

Did you take the gearcase apart? Did you remove the solenoids? If so, are they now properly adjusted?

Where is the gear oil coming from? If you took the gear case apart, did you reseal it properly?



.

 

[austin7777]

Re: Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

Jay,
I cannot be 100 percent if the solenoids work, the boat does go into neutral/reverse on occasions so I assume they are not totally stuffed.

I have taken the solenoid assembly apart a couple of times, cleaned out solenoids (they did have a bit of water around them and tell-tale signs of rust), I then put them back in (adjusted plungers to be level on solenoids as per manual), then sealed it all back up

My concern is the gearcase oil, as you can see from the picture it is leaking out near the prop (definatly not at the oil plug). So if oil is leaking out so quickly I assume water is getting in to replace it, and stopping the gear from changing.

It is definatly frustrating, we dont want to go to the expense of replacing solenoids/oil pumps etc as the motor is already 40 years old (and obtaining parts will not be easy).
Any suggestions ?

thanks again

 

[boobie]

Re: Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

As far as oil on the floor, if you ran the mtr it could be from the mtr exhaust as it looks awful black. If not and you still think it's a g/c leak you should drain the g/c and pressure and vacuum check. That way you can find out exactly where the leak is.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

Did you pull the gearcase drain and vent plugs again, to verify that the oil on the floor is gear oil?

Signs of water in the gearcase are not good, because water intrusion tends to cause solenoid problems. If you have the original engine service manual, there should be a procedure to do an electrical test on the solenoids. Its probably in the section on the remote control. Regardles of other issues, I recommend that you perform the appropriate tests.



???

 

[austin7777]

Re: Johnson 1971 50 hp Gear shift problems

Okay another update:

Since my last post I have taken the lower leg off AGAIN !!!, I drained the oil out of the gearcase and it was only half of what I put in there, and the oil was very milky (I had only run the engine once for 10 seconds with the ear muffs since putting the new gearcase oil in). I conducted the ohms test on the solenoids and they tested ok (7ohms on each). I opened up the solenoid section (the gasket is in an average condition) and there was a bit of milky gearcase oil in there (see picture). Also I was searching for where the oil came out of the gearcase in the previous picture and noticed one of the four bolds holding the bearing carrier was half loose. Everthing else in the bearing carrier area seemed ok, no visible cracks etc.

Any suggestions what else I can look at, or where this damn water is getting into the gearcase oil.

Also in the picture there is a small hole where some milky gearcase oil has collected, does this lead to the gearcase reservoir ?

Thanks again