Problem with Control box/throttle cables on Johnson 70...HELP

[Johnson70]

Hi all,<br /><br />I have visited this board on many occassions and have read some very useful information. I am fairly new to working on outboards and have a few questions. I purchased a manual for my 1983 70hp Johnson but I can't seem to find this information anywhere...so, here we go.<br /><br />I purchased this motor last August/September. The motor is in great shape overall, but the throttle wasn't working properly...the fast idle lever didn't move anything under the cowling when raised and was near impossible to put back down once it was raised. Shifting into forward was fine, provided that I moved the throttle arm back to a lower rpm range manually...at around 3/4 throttle, I would start getting above idle speed, and the last 1/4 of the throttle would have all the power i needed. Reverse would never go over idle....so, I searched on this board for information, the cables don't look like they are binding, I tried playing with the little black disks on the motor to try and adjust it that way...still nothing. So, I read another post that said there is a little gear inside the control box that may need to be tightened....Opened up the box, everything looked fine...Put it back together, now the shift for the throttle won't move at all. I am sure i put the control box together the wrong way, but not quite sure how to correct that. Two, it doesn't address my shifting problem. I called the local marina after 4 hours of cursing up a storm at the box, they want 225 to look at it....seems a bit steep to me since my wife is a stay at home mom...so.....can anyone help me? I need to figure out how to fix the box and I assume put in new cables as well. Any and all advise appreciated!!!! Thanks!

 

[Bass Runner]

Re: Problem with Control box/throttle cables on Johnson 70...HELP

That is unreasonable just to look at it, you can buy controls for around $150, take the control back apart and check the bushings on the main handle make sure you didn't put them in wrong, did you grease it when you had it apart? Any good marine grease will work, take your cables loose at the motor and check to see if the cables are free, the warm up lever when raised will disable the gearshift and move the throttle cable, if the warmup lever isn't all the way down it will lock everything so you can't move the main control handle, sounds like that's where your problem is, like i say take it back apart and look closely at the linkage for the warmup lever i'll bet it's jammed and won't release, also check the linkage on the motor, make sure it's not sticking and well lubed, hope all this helps, mine did about the same thing i took it apart and lubed it when i put it back together it worked like a champ, good luck with it

 

[Johnson70]

Re: Problem with Control box/throttle cables on Johnson 70...HELP

Thanks for the reply. How do you disconnect the cables from the motor? I tried loosening the black disk aka trunion nut, but it doesn't seem to ever let go. Again, not overly familiar with working on motors, but necessity dictates it at this point. To clarify, when I took the control apart, i did just that, I took the two halves apart, looked around, didn't see anything that looked broken and put it back together...... I am assuming I have to decompose the whole thing?