shifting issue 98 johnson 2 stroke

acollins

Recruit
Joined
May 9, 2009
Messages
5
Hello all, In the spring of this year I purchased a used 1998 roughneck boat with a 1998 50hp johnson 2 stroke engine on it. The other day i noticed while shifting into forward from neutral, the engine and drive would engage right away as normal but about every 15 times of shifting the motor would kinda jump or surge as if it wasnt into gear all the way and had a delay of engaging completly after the initial shift. This seemed to become a little more frequent as the day went on. I changed the lower unit oil in the spring and was not kinda a light shade of teal. The previous owner told me he used synthetic lube and i used the same to replace the old. No metal shaving were found when i performed the lube change. This problem has just started over the past 3 days. any ideas of what this could be? Thanks in advance.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,114
Re: shifting issue 98 johnson 2 stroke

That doesn't sound good. Are you shifting with a positive motion? You need to shift quickly, so the gears do not grind.

Also, look at the shift linkage. Sometimes they get some wear which makes them sloppy. Get a manual and make sure the shift linkage is adjusted properly.
 
Top