Shear pin on '77 Chrysler 65 hp and shifter issues

[LostCoastDreamin]

Hello boating world, I recently bought my first boat. It is a 1971 Starcraft TR-170, a 17' trihull. It came with a '77 Chrysler 65 hp, model 659HA, which has the dreaded Magnapower II ignition. The ignition is fine so far, but that has not prevented me from getting stranded in some way on each of my first 3 outings.

The first two times out, lets just say I was naive to prime and choke a warm 2-stroke... That quickly flooded the engine both times, but I've learned that lesson now. :facepalm: A bit embarrassing, to say the least.

I should tell you that I think the clutch dog is to blame for it previously being hard to shift into forward gear. Reverse was no prob, but I would have to give the engine more fuel than I'd prefer to get it to engage forward, with a jolt. I know, you're cringing now, I was too. Other times it would pop out of gear, usually when going slowly, though most of the time it was just hard to engage forward. Could this be related to linkage?

The last time out something mechanical went, and the engine revved high with no load after seeming to pop out of gear. After that, no forward or reverse gear. In fact, in neutral the prop wouldn't even turn like it usually does with it idling. I grabbed the prop (eng. off) and spun it by hand, no resistance either way. ***Does this sound like a shear pin let go?*** And no, the prop didn't hit bottom, but the jolting shift into forward seemed to be what caused the mech failure. I took off the prop, but could not find a shear pin. Is it inside the lower unit?

I have a manual on order for the Chrysler, it shipped today so in a few days I'll have it to refer to. ANY help is greatly appreciated, I can't wait for the likes of Frank A to weigh in as I've been reading the forum and he is a wealth of knowledge on Chryslers. Thanks for reading.

 

[LostCoastDreamin]

Re: Shear pin on '77 Chrysler 65 hp and shifter issues

Anybody reading this have any information about this outboard? I really want to get back on the water soon.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Shear pin on '77 Chrysler 65 hp and shifter issues

A couple of photos of the prop and lower unit would be nice to confirm it is the engine I am thinking of.

If it is the older 2 piece lower unit similar to the 45, 50, 55, and the shroud goes almost all the way down to the cavitation plate, it has no shear pin. The prop is splined to the shaft and there is a thrust pin in the prop hub, covered and retained by the plastic prop nut. Most early Chrysler engines were propped this way. Even if the thrust pin broke, the prop would still turn but would slide forward and contact the gearcase.

It sounds like the prop has spun the hub. When they get old, the rubber insert will occasionally lose its grip on the inside of the prop. Unfortunately, these props are obsolete and most prop shops will not re-hub them. However, HMS Hubs does sell a new hub (VS-06) BUT--it will cost about 20 bucks plus shipping and if you do not have the press, a prop shop will still charge you to press it in. Look for a good used one on ebay. Or send me a private message--I have a couple of these props laying around in my garage.

Shift linkage on these engines is finicky and will cause problems going into or staying in gear if not adjusted correctly. Worn drive dogs will usually wear on both the forward gear and the dog clutch necessitating replacement of the clutch and forward gear. This is something you need to determine by disassembling the lower unit.


Again, a couple of photos would help.

 

[LostCoastDreamin]

Re: Shear pin on '77 Chrysler 65 hp and shifter issues

Thank you for weighing in Frank, your advice is greatly appreciated. So is advice from anyone else who knows this outboard.
Today I got the service manual for my outboard, at least for a '77 65 hp Chrysler. No model # on the manual, it just says 1977 65 hp Chrysler. Any idea if this manual covers ALL 65 hp models for that year? Again, my model# is 659HA.
I think I might not have described the problem well enough, so let me be more specific.

When spinning the prop by hand before, the shifter was in neutral. No resistance to speak of. I just put the shifter in forward gear and gave it another spin, this time I could feel the resistance of gears that almost engaged, but not fully. Like what happened when I tried to engage forward gear before it stopped shifting into fwd/rev, it made a grinding sound (much slower by hand). Same in reverse. I could not get the prop to slip at all on the spline (drive shaft), so I don't think that a spun prop hub is my issue, but please correct me if I'm wrong and tell me how to test it. The gears seemed to not be engaging at all when attempting to shift with engine running since then.

What could be causing it to not engage at all while running but engage slightly when hand-spinning the prop? The throttle performs as it should, but no indication of it shifting at all since it "let go" on the water, except the linkage I can see with the top cover off moves like it should (I think). Now there's no load when trying to shift, it just revs up with a different higher-pitched sound and no grinding. That's why I am suspecting the shift linkage in the lower unit to be part of the problem. The owner before me replaced the impeller and its housing, and as I just got a manual, I will probably take off and inspect the lower unit very soon. Any particular things to watch out for as signs of what is going on in there? I'm including a few pics of her for ID purposes...

Ok, having trouble posting pics (first time) so I'll post them ASAP.

 

[LostCoastDreamin]

Re: '77 Chrysler 65 hp clutch and shifter issues...won't shift at all

Re: '77 Chrysler 65 hp clutch and shifter issues...won't shift at all

Here are the pics, had to re-size them to get them uploaded. I hope this helps for identification. It sounds to me like it is the one you thought it was Frank, and I am going to remove and inspect the LU soon to see the condition of the gears, etc. Other than marking the position of the shift arm, what tips can you give me for removal/reassembly? What to look for other than worn gears? Assume I know what I can find out on the forum search.