SuzukiChopper
Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2004
- Messages
- 782
I just thought I'd pass along some helpful advice. I was stuck with no reverse on my 1972 Johnson 100hp. I did all the regular checks, even replaced the reverse solenoid, no dice. Finally I was told to check the clutch dog and reverse gear. Asked my dealer for a price on the parts, $600 for both. Checked ebay for used or old new stock, nothing. Finally one day I decided to take apart the lower unit and replace the seals anyways. After I pulled the prop shaft I saw the clutch dog rounded off on the reverse side, as well the reverse gear had some wear to it as well. Having skills with machining and metal fab I figured I'd give a go at a repair. NOTE: This was with a clutch dog with three ramps, each faced at the end, not the type with two keys on the face of the clutch dog like some.<br /><br />Using a dremel (the mill was broken), I was able to removed the damage on the clutch dog and gain back a bit of an edge on the reverse gear. During the whole process I made sure to keep the metal cool as to not loose any tempering/hardening. I had little faith that this type of repair would hold up for more than one attempt. Well I tested it on land (with muffs) and it worked. Today I took the boat out for an in water test, and wouldn't you know, it worked like new!! I thought after the first engagement the repair would be toast, but throughout the day I tried many times and even did circles in reverse with a big grin on my face.<br /><br />I'm passing this on because I'm sure there are more people with older engines like mine that might run into this kind of a problem, either forward or reverse gears, that cost an arm and a leg to replace. Maybe it'll be of some help.<br /><br />Although I don't know how long exactly this will last, hopefully full service like a new part, here's some things to do/watch out for.<br /><br />1. If you don't have experience machining/metal working, or know how to keep parts cool, USE A MACHINE SHOP! Although I didn't build up the worn areas with a TIG and then re-harden/temper the material they may be able to.<br /><br />2. Keep the area cool while grinding/cutting material to keep the current temper/handening.<br /><br />3. Take your time and remove the same amount of material from each ramp of the clutch dog, giving the faces a slight backwards angle. Do the same on the reverse gear. <br /><br />4. By hand, mate the pieces together to make sure that all faces match up like they're supposed to.<br /><br /><br />That is all there really is to it. It took me about half an hour to remove the LU and disassemble to the point where the clutch dog and reverse gear were able to be worked on. Another 20 minutes to repair the gears and I spent another hour assembling properly and then another 20 to put the lower unit back on to completion. I really hope this helps someone and I really hope that no one has any objections to this kind of advice.
