1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

[Peter_B]

Hey all. I am fixing up a 77 Peterborough with a 35 HP Johnson on the back. I took the boat out to today and couldn't seem to get it to stay in fwd. As soon as you throttle up, it seems to kick it self out of gear. I had to hold it in forward at low rpm to get it back to the launch. It seems to jump a bit at higher rpm while held. Any ideas as to what the possibilities are? The gear selector at on the throttle control doesn't seem to really lock into forward like it does in reverse. Could this be as something as easy as a cable adjustment? Throttle control/gear selctor replacement? Internal issue with the motor?

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Welcome to the forum.
You have a remote control box?
Disconnect the shift cable from the engine and shift it manually, if the problem goes away, you need to adjust/replace the shift cable.
If it still jumps out of gear shifting it manually, you might want to check the clutch dog in the lower unit.

 

[Peter_B]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Thanks for the quick reply. I will try that for sure. If it is the clutch dog, is it something thats complicated to fix/change out?

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

It's hard to say, some ones complicated problem is another persons easy fix.
If you think you want to tackle it yourself, I would get the factory manual and read through the procedure for tearing the lower unit down and see if you think it's something you think you can do.
If you decide to tackle a repair and run into problems, just ask, there are a lot of people here with a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to help you out.

 

[Peter_B]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Ok, sorry for the long delay, kind of got caught up in work. I finally got a chance to troubleshoot this a little more. After disconecting the shifter cable, I found the motor shifts just fine manually and does not pop out of gear. I started to look a bit further into whats going on and this is what I found. Turns out it looks like the previous owner used a bungee cable to hold down the shifter all the way forward in order for it to stay in gear. I thought this was odd so I took apart the shifter to see why they would have done that. Here is what I found.

They had screwed in another screw and used slingshot material in order to hold the shifter forward. After removing it and playing with the linkage adjustment, I can only get fwd or rev, not both. If I adjust it so it stays in forward, it doesn't have enough throw to get it into reverse. And vise versa. So, my thought it that the shifter itself doesn't have enough throw to get it into both, but its the original shifter so I can't see how that would be. The second thing I thought is maybe the cable is too long? Too much play? Its a solid metal rod inside a casing.

I don't have much experience with boats, but it seems like a pretty simple setup. So could this be as easy as needing a new cable? Or a little more complex and needing a new control box?

Thanks in advance from this boat newb.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Sounds like a simple worn cable, but hard to say for certain without inspection

 

[Peter_B]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Thanks. Thats the conclusion that I was coming to by process of elimination as well. I will try a new cable and hope it does the trick.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

My guess also would be in the control/cable. Is this a single lever or 2 lever control?

 

[Peter_B]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Its a two lever control.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

FYI there is a difference between the cable ends on the single lever and 2 lever so make sure you get the right one. Off the top of my head I don't recall the part number difference but it should be easy to determine. Also while I have them open I also clean'm up and apply a liberal amount or white grease to all moving parts.

 

[Peter_B]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

Thanks Bonz. Its coming off the boat today and hope to get a replacement soon. Maybe get it on the water one last time before the cold sets in.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

I hear ya. Hope to get one more myself before it gets put away.

 

[kbait]

Re: 1977 Johnson 35 HP Seahorse jumping out of gear?

You may have some play in the shift rod connector, if it's loose. Pull the cover on the exhaust housing.. # 13 seen here: Evinrude Exhaust Housing-35 Hp Parts for 1977 35hp 35703C Outboard Motor

Shift motor (engine off) and see if there's any play there. You'd definitely lose some 'stroke' if there is.

Good luck!