1977 70 hp evinrude shift cable slop?

[Weirdboymike]

Hey there,

I have a 1977 70 hp evinrude model 70733s. I have been having control box issues for a few years and kept replacing the shift lever asm inside the box as it seemed to wear and shear teeth causing it to lock in forward due to the teeth jumping. Anywho I realized last year it was the shift cable that was seizing up so I just replaced it with a new cable and new shift lever asm. It is a lot smoother, how ever I took it out to the lake to run everything as this boat has gone through a major restoration. I noticed that sometimes when starting and attempting to go into forward gear it wouldn't shift but it would throttle up. I then went into reverse and it went into gear. After going into reverse I could then go into forward. It sometimes would do the reverse as well (wouldn't engage in reverse until I went into forward). Is this just simply a cable adjustment? I can manually shift just fine and the linkage moves when I move the throttle control on the box so I don't believe it is the shift rod. Thanks for any input.

 

[bonz_d]

Take the cable off the shift lever on the engine. Place control straight up in neutral. Engine also in neutral then adjust the cable until it lines up. Reassemble. Try that.

 

[Weirdboymike]

Could have swore that was how I did it originally but I will double check it and try it again. Thanks,

 

[bonz_d]

You have 4 elements involved here. The control box, cable, engine linkage and lower unit. Need to narrow it down to which one is causing the issue. With the repairs to the control and the new cable I would guess it's not there. Could be in the lower unit and the clutch dog is hanging up and not sliding, though I've never heard of anyone having such a problem.

 

[Weirdboymike]

Yeah its an odd one. I'll give it a run through tonight and disconnect the cable and double check the shifting directly on the motor, however last I recall I did check that and it was working fine. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

[Weirdboymike]

Found the problem... The bushing in the control box is missing. Does anyoneanyone happen to know the size of this shift lever bushing (0318645)? The reason i ask is because i am heading out on vacation in 2 days and we use all sorts of nylon bushings at my work so i would like to just buy one off my employer cheap. I am also currently at one of the plants so i am unable measure the mating parts.

 

[bonz_d]

Good job. It's always the little things that cause the biggest headaches!