1979 85 HP Johnson Will not go into Reverse

[mstone1968]

Hello,
I have a1979 85HP johnson the model number is 85TL79R...Just bought it last year. In excellent condition, Garaged Kept looks brand new...ran great all summer..first time out this year boat went into reverse fine....getting ready to leave for the day and it wouldn't go into reverse...when you put the shift lever in reverse it just clicks....if you give a lot of throttle it almost goes into gear but jerks reallly hard....don't know why it stopped...forward gear still works fine.. When you are on land you can turn the propeller in either direction...if you put the lever into reverse the propeller will not turn by hand....I tried adjusting the black knobs on the top brass linkgages a couple of turns in each direction but didn't make any difference. Would anyone have any suggestions on what to do or why it would suddenly not engage in reverse...Thanks so much for your help.

[CATransplant]

Start by disconnecting the cable for the remote shift and see if it'll go into reverse reliably if you shift the lever manually. If so, you have a problem in the cable or the cable's adjustment.

If it won't, then the problem's in the shift mechanism somewhere.

If you've had the lower unit off to replace the impeller, you may have turned the shift shaft a few times and gotten it out of adjustment. I don't know the exact length the shaft is supposed to be on that model but it's in your manual.

Anyhow, the two steps above will identify which system the problem is in.

[ezeke]

Has someone had the gearcase off? If not, try the following:

Take the spark plugs out, put the control in neutral and disconnect the shift cable at the engine;

Manually shift the motor into reverse and turn the flywheel clockwise to confirm reverse at the propeller;

Manually shift the motor into forward and confirm forward by turning the flywheel clockwise and observing clockwise movement of the propeller;

Manually return the gearcase to neutral and confirm by turning the flywheel clockwise while observing that the propeller is not turning;

With the gearcase in neutral and the shift cable still disconnected, move the remote control arm fully forward and back to neutral;

Using only the trunnion knob, adjust the cable until it will reconnect at the engine with no further movement of the the shift lever on the engine.