First trip of the year, trouble shifting, 2005 Johnson 90hp J90GLSOB 2 stroke carb'd

[SweetD]

Hi Everyone,

Well, as usual the maiden voyage this year was not without incident with this motor. The motor itself ran great. But I'm suddenly having trouble with the gears.

Reverse off the trailer was grinding. Shift to forward and the motor slightly bucked a couple of times trying to find forward gear. Found it and ran seemingly fine.

In neutral, seemed like it wasn't quite in neutral. Throttle lever is waaaay tighter than usual, not smooth at all. When I put the boat away in the Fall, everything was fine. Before I docked I tried shifting again - reverse was grinding, and when I shifted to neutral and then to forward very gingerly, it actually slightly stayed in reverse! Then as I advanced the lever it went into forward...

Several years ago I had a similar issue (couldn't find reverse at all), and my mechanic took a rat tail file and enlarged the hole where the shift rod comes through the motor midsection. He said at the time that the motor mounts on this motor deteriorate over time and essentially "sag" the motor, impacting the shift rod.

I'm wondering if this is happening again...thoughts?

I swear it never ends with this motor, I work so hard to keep it running well, and every year there's an issue.

Thanks for any insight.

Dave

 

[jakedaawg]

did you check the gear lube, full?

 

[SweetD]

did you check the gear lube, full?

Hi jakedaawg,

Yes, actually I just changed the lower unit oil last week - it's fresh.

I will say that although I am not a certified mechanic, I do have pretty good mechanical aptitude, and I'm not afraid to work on my equipment myself when I can. I always prefer the DIY over bringing my stuff to a pro, when applicable. Just throwing that out there..thanks! Dave

 

[SweetD]

Some more diagnosis today - I pulled the boat and worked on it in my driveway. I disconnected the Teleflex cables at the motor. When disconnected from the motor linkage they seemed to operate very smoothly from the shifter. I should say the Teleflex cables are only a few years old.

When attached to the motor, the shifter will shift into R and F, but with some resistance. When I shift into R and then come back into N, the gear stays in R. I have to "jimmy" it ever so slightly by pressing the shift button in and ever so slightly moving into F to get it to come back to N. Same thing when I go into F - when I come back to N, I have to depress the shifter button and go slightly into R to get it into N.

The "shift shaft and arm ass'y" (OEM P/N 5005702, tried to upload a pic but getting an error message) is what I have been observing while shifting with the motor running. It is the part I can see that is not coming back to N on its own via the cable linkage.

As I mentioned previously, I have had binding in the mid section of the motor before with the shift-shaft. I wonder if this is happening again? Or, does anyone have any experience with the shift shaft arm ass'y or its neighbor parts binding? It is a really hard part to get to under the motor head.

Thanks for any more troubleshooting advice or anything else. Much appreciated!

Dave

 

[jakedaawg]

I think shift shaft height needs adjusting

 

[SweetD]

I think shift shaft height needs adjusting

Thanks jakedawg - do you think that the shift shaft needs adjusting due to the previous condition of the motor mount bushings sagging? So adjust the shift shaft to compensate for the bushing issue? Or do you suspect something else? I doubt the shift shaft hasn't moved out of position on its own, correct?

 

[jakedaawg]

Personally, I would address all the issues. Sagging and then reset heigth.

I have ~19 or 20 come through a year and have yet to see one fail like that but am in freshwater with about 12 weeks of boating per season.

 

[SweetD]

Thank you very much. Expensive parts and quite a bear of a job...I'll have to figure it out. I'm sure the salt water does not help the situation, and our season is about 5 months or so in the water.

I appreciate your input! Dave

 

[jakedaawg]

mids and clamps are pretty easy to find used for this motor. Its really a suzuki

 

[jakedaawg]

PM sent. Contents not for public posting.

 

[SweetD]

PM sent. Contents not for public posting.

Much appreciated - will follow up. Thanks! Dave

 

[jakedaawg]

Much appreciated - will follow up. Thanks! Dave

The more I think of this I cant wrap my head around the bushing your previous wrench speaks of...

 

[SweetD]

I could have the nomenclature wrong. This was several years ago now...he said that the rubber "bushings" were difficult to remove - sometimes have to drill them out like swiss cheese and dig them out. And I remember they were expensive parts.

What about P/N 0434632 RUBBER MOUNT, Lower? If these mounts deteriorated, could it cause the mid/lower sections to sag, effecting the shift shaft?

I messed with the stop settings on the control cables a bunch again today, put the boat in the water, and it is just not shifting into any gear smoothly. It's at the point where it engages in R or F only when the throttle is way too revved to be allowing the motor to go into gear. I can't get it to go into gear as usual without "gunning" it, which is obviously not the way you want to be engaging the motor...

Thanks,
Dave

 

[racerone]

Who says that this motor is a SUZUKI ???

 

[SweetD]

I would say it is definitely not a Suzuki motor. It's a two stroke carb'd motor. One of the last Bombardier made...

 

[daselbee]

This is not a Suzuki. I would be looking at the shift shaft cover. It has two O-rings in the bushing that the shaft goes thru.
Those O-rings and bushings swell, corrode, etc. and bind up the shift shaft.

 

[SweetD]

This is not a Suzuki. I would be looking at the shift shaft cover. It has two O-rings in the bushing that the shaft goes thru.
Those O-rings and bushings swell, corrode, etc. and bind up the shift shaft.

Thanks daselbee, I have read about that shift shaft cover binding up. How the heck do I get to it???? It's right under the block and seems impossible to get to???

Thanks!
Dave

 

[cfauvel]

based on the Rat Tail file being used, it sounds like the lower rubber midsection mounts have SWELLED , pushing the shift rod forward and rubbing on the edge of the midsection's hole.

there maybe other issues.

the lower mid section mounts can be a pain to remove....I had exactly that issue where the shift rod was rubbing...installed new lower rubber mounts, and the shift rod was right in the middle of the hole as designed.

another thing to look at is the linkage on the starboard side from the throttle cable to carb...this year I had to re-lube and replace the linkage bushings as they were super stiff which affected shifting and throttling movements..

 

[daselbee]

Thanks daselbee, I have read about that shift shaft cover binding up. How the heck do I get to it???? It's right under the block and seems impossible to get to???

Thanks!
Dave

The cover I am speaking of is easily accessed when the LU is removed. It is just forward of the waterpump. It is fastened with 6 screws.
I rarely replace the O-rings....I just get a new cover and gasket.
When the LU is off, you can very easily operate the shift rod manually, and see if it is binding due to corrosion, etc.

You must set the shift shaft height when re-assembling, because you have to remove the shaft completely to get the cover separated from the shaft.

 

[jakedaawg]

Who says that this motor is a SUZUKI ???

For some reason, when I tyoed that, I was thinking we were talking about a four stroke...my bad.