Just bought a 1987 Allweld 18' boat with a 1988 Evinrude V4 90hp motor. The boat and motor sat in a garage for about 4 years. I cleaned out the gas tank, changed the plugs, wires, gas lines, bulb, water separator filter, put on a new battery, hooked it up to the water hose and got it started like a champ. Good water flow and ran good. So, I took it to the lake to baby it around the boat dock to see how the motor ran before tearing the boat apart to restore it. After about 30 minutes of running, and running great, I decided to open it up. I got about 200 yds from the dock, looked at the motor to ensure it was still pumping water (since I hadn't changed the impeller yet), and it was, and I opened it up. Ran great. But, about 50 yds from the dock it lost all power and I looked back and it had stopped pumping water. I shut it down and coasted into the dock, loaded it up and havn't tried to start it since. First question is based on anyones experience, do you think the powerhead has been damaged? Second, and the big one, I'm about to get the cutting torch out after this shift rod. I have the OMC manual, I have photos and all. But it aint that easy. I've put it in reverse, I've removed the retaining clip, and I've disconnected the shift cables. The problem is, I cant get a wrench, socket, exension, anything in to the only bolt I can see at the shift rod. There seems to be a pin that goes through the shift lever and through the shift rod. On either side of this pin, there is no bolt or retaining clip or anything. There seems to be a "clamp" with a 3/8 bolt that needs to be loosened but it faces down towards the motor cover/housing with only about 1/4" clearance. Don't know how to get in to it w/out tearing apart the engine. Any help, tricks, etc. would be appreciated for the sake of my motor. Thanks.