20 hp evinrude kick out of forward and goes to neutral please help

zit · #1 July 5th, 2007, 12:25 AM

hi i recently purchased my first used boat and motor with a 1983 20hp evirude, it kicked out of forward at a moderate speed and went into neutral and reved high.
i released the trottle put it back to shift and put it back into forward, however it sound like it something was slipping, power was no longer there and i barely made it back to shore.

i read this site suggestions and found the forward and reverse gear to be fine and same with the pinion gear to be fine also. The clutch looks fine also and the dogs look mew.

I also looked at the prop to determine wether it my have spun on the bushing, it looked fine also.

I have also checked the shift rod connector it was fine, can anyone offer me any other suggestions what to check next.

when this occured i was going upstream at a moderate speed and fighting a lot of current.

I appreciate any advice you can provide me with, and thank you in advance.

samo_ott · #2 July 5th, 2007, 12:41 AM

One of the items you listed above is the culprit. Make sure you are checking them all correctly. Chances are you have lower gear problems.

diggerdan17 · #3 July 5th, 2007, 03:18 AM

i had a 35 horse johnson of similar era and i thought the clutch dogs looked to be in good condition.turns out they were very slightly worn and it was just enough to kick it out of gear.

kmk_7110 · #4 July 5th, 2007, 04:44 AM

If its spinning on the bushing you'll know in the water but it can be tricky when out of water. The water creates the force so on land just put the motor in gear and try to turn the prop. You know the rest.

F_R · #5 July 5th, 2007, 05:45 AM

Very simple. Does it make a grinding noise when it is "barely making it back to shore"? Does, doesn't it? You said it is actually kicking the shift lever back to neutral. That is the dog and gear. You aren't seeing what you are looking at.

A spun prop will slip smothly, like spinning your wheels on ice.

A dog will jump out of gear, grind, sound like you ran over something.

A broken shear pin will....well, I guess you don't have one of those, do you?

Could be stripped drive / crank shaft splines too. In that case it wouldn't go, period.

Also could be something in the shift linkage, not actually putting it in gear, or not all the way into gear.

Gotta be one of the above.