1977 Johnson 70 gear trouble

[Cherokee-Runabout]

Please help if you can! Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated! I've been having a little trouble shifting into my forward gear (reverse seems to be working just fine) when I shift from neutral to forward at the gear box there is an excessive amount of grinding. I've had to back it off or else engage the lever all the way forward before the gear would grab. I had a similar problem with another l/u that I had. Is this a problem with the length of the linkage? I'm not very well versed in the art of outboard repair so any help would be great! Thanks for reading.

 

[racerone]

The shift rod that goes into the lower unit must be set at a specific length.-------So step # 1 is to remove the lower unit and measure what it is now.------Measurement is in nuetral.-----From mounting surface to the centre of the hole at the top of the rod.

 

[Cherokee-Runabout]

Racerone, thank you for the input. I've been super busy with work lately and have yet to drop the l/u hopefully I'll have time tomorrow. I have a manual somewhere but cannot recall the height for the shift rod off hand. Your suggestion makes a lot of sense and I'm glad that it might not be a super in depth repair. Thank you for all of the help and suggestions that you've offered to me over the years. I will get back to you and let you know the exact height hopefully in the next day or two. Looking forward to your response. Cheers!