Just took my new old 1974 Evinrude 40hp out for a test spin. When I went to load it on the trailer, I had to put it in reverse. Then when i moved the shifter into forward it stayed in reverse. Worked it back and forth a few times and it came out of it and back into forward. Is there a way to adjust the travel or something so it shifts correctly.
Sounds like one of the ends is loose on the remote control shift cable. If anything else ahd come loose it wouldn't reattach itself. Just for kicks, check the oil in the lower unit.
I took the shifting cable off so I could shift it at the side of the motor. It now is stuck in forward you can move it to both extremes and it stays in forward, but there is no grinding. The rod inside the cowling is still in tack and not slipping there.
By rod inside the cowling, do you mean behind the oval disconnect cover on the side about half way down? Anyhow that is the next place to look. If the rod is not going up and down when shifted, it has come loose under the powerhead. But if it is going up and down but not doing anything, you must have bad news in the lower unit.
When it does shift that rod goes up and down, but when you try to shift it and it doesnt shift the rod doesnt move. you can apply pressure but it doesnt move, but the shift handle does go back and forth.
IF the shift lever is tight on the shaft, and IF it is going back and forth without the rod going up and down, then something is wrong or broken under the powerhead. I've seen it happen (broken clevis) many times. But usually when it's broken, it's broken. No self-healing. Don't know what else to tell you except pull the powerhead and take a looksee.
Went out and messed with the motor again. The shift lever will move, and in turn move the rod up and down in the view hole but the prop does not change rotation. Occasionally the shift lever will stiffen up and not want to shift forward and backward though. Shot some wd40 down the view hole didn't seem to make a difference. Got any ideas?
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The whole key to diagnosis is that shift rod. Your trouble has to be either upstairs or downstairs. You don't seem to be grasping the idea. And I can't be there to check it for you.
If the shift rod moves up and down and it doesn't shift the gears, there is trouble in the lower unit. WD won't help a bit.
If there is any slack in between when the shift lever moves and the rod moves, it is broken under the powerhead. When one moves, the other must move. BTW, when the clevis breaks it does tend to make it difficult to move the shift lever....sometimes. Hate to make this more confusing, but those motors also corrode the upper half of the shift rod till it breaks in two. Just before that happens, it bends back and forth. But it's still a under-the-powerhead situation.
I decided to drop my lower unit. I have unbolted it and it dropped down an inch or so, now it appears to be stuck. It will not come all the way off got any hints???
Have you disconnected the shift rod at the top? Look under the carbs where they are attached to the engine and there is a bolt that connects the shift rod to the linkage that the remote control lever moves. You probably need to remove the starter motor to get to it, and use an extension and U-joint to get a socket on it.
The shift lever on the side of the motor will shift now from F to N to R. The rod in the view hole on the side of the motor will also go up and down, so that leads me to believe the problem is in the lower unit. So I tried to take the lower unit off I removed the seven bolts the unit dropped an inch or two then seemed to bind for some reason. Got the tips from the previous post but my carb is on the front of the engine and there are no bolts under it. I tried to loosen the bolts on the shift rod in the view hole still seemed to make no difference. I'm at a loss and need help. Thanks
If its dropping an inch, then stopping, then it is still attached to the shift rod probably. You cant just loosen them , you must remove them. It may also be binding a bit.
Evinrude Shifting Problems
Linear Mode
