1995 115hp Johnson OceanPro V4 Shift Shaft Linkage - How to reconnect

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MattinTally

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Dec 6, 2009
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OK, I just wanted to post this after fighting for nearly 3 hours to get the shif shaft linkage reconnected..... Hopefully this can save others down the road. I removed the lower unit to replace a water pump and ran into problems reconnecting the shift shaft. When removing the lower unit, it is important to NOT move the shift rod.... you don't want to unscrew the rod or twist the rod. It should remain exactly as it is when it was disconnected from the powerhead.

To remove the lower unit, the shifter must be in Forward, pushed all the way forward to Full Throttle. To get the lower unit disconnected, I had to have a friend move the shifter on the helm back & forth to relive tension; once the friend did this, the lower unit dropped right out.

To reconnect the lower unit & shift shaft, the shifter must remain fully forward.

First, have a decent repair manual handy. Make sure to have the spark plug wires disconnected and isolated during this procedure. After reading the manual, you'll soon find out there are poor pictures and vague directions regarding reconnecting the linkage and testing.

Second, if you run into problems, I would remove the lower cowling pan on the starboard side of the engine. There are 4 bolts; 2 front and 2 aft. The port side cowling can remain in place, but unbolt and move the starboard out of the way. This allows you much better visual access to see where the shift shaft connects into the linkage. NO NEED TO REMOVE ANY OF THE CARBS.

My issue today was when I reconnected and bolted the lower unit back onto the midsection, I must have knocked the shift shaft downward (deeper) into the lower unit and it was then too short at the top end of the shaft to align with the linkage. After rebolting the lower unit, I had to use a pair of long needlenose pliers to grip the shift shaft (down low - you can grip the shift shaft near where the lower unit meets the bottom of the midsection) and move the shift shaft upward about 3/4 inch. Also, when reconnecting the lower unit, the shaft turned slightly and the alignment hole at the top of the shaft was not perfectly perpendicular to the boat (e.g. the hole should be pointing port & starboard and the narrow edge would point fore & aft). I then used the pliers to twist the shift rod to get the alignment hole at the top of the shaft pointing port & starboard.

If the shift rod is in the correct positing (e.g. correct height and hole alignment), the shift shaft linkage (the steel cylinder with the hole for the cotter pin) should easily move into place by hand power and you shouldn't have to use a pry tool, hammer & screwdriver, or anything like that to get the cotter pin installed. If the linkage doesn't easily move into place, you don't have the shift rod height and alignment perfect.

Once you have the linkage arm reconnected and the cotter pin installed, there should be enough room for your fingers to grip the shift shaft up high, just below where the cotter pin is located. If there is any free movement of the shift shaft, you don't have it connected correctly. If correct, there will be virtually no movement in the shift shaft.

Also, at this point, your gear shifter should still be in the fully-Forward position and the prop should only turn clockwise.

Next, have a friend operate the gear shifter while you watch the movement of the linkage and movement of the shift shaft. Watch the shift shaft; as the linkage turns (the cylinder the cotter pin goes thru), the shift shaft should move downward into Nuetral. The prop should now spin freely in both directions. Then have friend move shifter to Reverse, again you should watch the shift shaft. The shift rod should go downward, deeper into the lowe. Recheck the prop movement, it should now spin only counter-clockwise.

If all of this checks out, you have the shift rod reconnected correctly.

Hopefully this will help someone avoid 3 hours of frustration.
 

horseflysc

Cadet
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
16
Re: 1995 115hp Johnson OceanPro V4 Shift Shaft Linkage - How to reconnect

Wish it was that easy for me. So far 4 frustrating hours trying to get it back together. Still not done but nightfall came!
I have my shift rod end w/hole actual touching the pin but there doesn't seem to be enough room for it to slide over the pin! It came off without issue but I did that by feel and did not see it. Don't think the rod has been moved at all but again no luck and 4 wasted hours trying to reconnect.
 

Froggy372

Recruit
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Messages
2
I have a 94 115hp and had to replace the lower end and now having a problem reconnecting the shifter linkage, it seems to be 1/2" too short and it's the original rod from the old lower end due to being an offset end, anyone know why it is now too short?
 

bjcsc

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
1,805
Don't know if this will help, but I recently went through this with my buddy on a 1997 115. We removed the shift cable from the linkage, removed the four bolts that hold the fuel bracket on and moved it to the side, and then we could adjust the shift shaft while looking at the pin/rod, etc.. It made it a lot easier. The shift shaft passes through two holes in the crankcase on its way to the rod. Each of these holes has a plastic bushing in it. The one closest to the shift rod actually has a plastic bushing that has a big teardrop end and the female fitting on its end that the pin that holds the shift rod locks into. It has a "D" hole that holds it in alignment with the lever assy (#81). This bushing also has two lock tabs that stick out on the starboard side of the hole. (See #28 below, OMC part# 0330935) The pins are how it stays put so when you slide the shaft to port, the pin comes out of the rod. On his engine, this bushing was broken. Because it was broken, it slid to port with the shift shaft and would not unlock the rod. Furthermore, we noticed that the shift rod turned/slid harder than we though it should. We drove out the old bushing and time and the ocean had resulted in some corrosion between the bushing and its housing. We cleaned that out with some sand paper (1/2" strip wrapped around the shift shaft on the "D" end after passing it through the first hole), until the new bushing (which we had greased lightly) slid in nicely. After that, everything went a whole lot easier and exactly as the manual described and with the rod moving so much better, the shifter moved like butter once reattached...
Shift.jpg
 
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