1977 Johnson 85hp shifting problem

I have a 1977 Johnson Javelin 85hp and am having problems getting it into gear. I just bought the boat and changed the water pump on it last weekend (did not mess with the shift rod). Took it out and had to adjust the cable on the motor a little to get it into foward. After that, it ran fine for the day. Took it out this morning and could not get it into foward again. Messed with it for a while then decided to take it to the house.
After all day tinkering with it, I have come up with the following...
I disconnected the shift cable from the motor, manually put the motor in neutral and then adjusted the cable to a slip fit. Moved the motor to foward and the cable is close to a slip fit, but in reverse, the cable has to be adjusted quite a bit.

This is where its gets discouraging... I have noticed that sometimes while running the shift lever through to adjust the cable, the shift lever in the control will actually jump a tooth. This will happen when I go to foward and then to full throttle then back to neutral. What I have figured out is that something in the lower unit is binding not allowing the gears to mesh and is putting a bind on the cable causing it to jump a tooth. If I turn the prop a little, the motor will fall into gear as its suppose to.

I tried turning the shift rod out 1 turn and also in 1 turn and no change. Actually when I turned it out, I was running out of adjustment on my cable so I put it back to the way it was originally (2 turns out from bottoming).

Anyone have any ideas or suggestion on what to do? BTW the model motor is 85ETLR77S.

Re: 1977 Johnson 85hp shifting problem

If I turn the prop a little, the motor will fall into gear as its suppose to

Click to expand...

There is your clue to what is happening. The gear shift engages forward or reverse by means of a dog clutch. It will not necessarily engage if the engine is not running although turning the prop slightly as you operate the shift from neutral to forward or revers will allow it to engage.

My operators manual specifically says "To avoid damage to the shifting mechanism do not attempt shifting from neutral to forward or reverse when the motor is not running. It is permissible to shift to neutral only."

Therefore while you are adjusting the cable turn the prop (you'll need long arms I guess) as you shift into gear but you may well find a position in which it will shift OK.

Re: 1977 Johnson 85hp shifting problem

Thanks for the reply. However, it is doing the same thing with the engine running also. When I launched the boat the other day, it would not go into foward gear and jumped the tooth in the controls. What I dont understand is that I ran the boat with no problems a week ago and now it acting up. Any other thoughts?

Re: 1977 Johnson 85hp shifting problem

bump. Any other ideas?

Re: 1977 Johnson 85hp shifting problem

We had that happen last year and it was all in the control center. We lubed it all up and it worked for a while. Then it got stuck on the lake and it wouldn't move. When we got it home we ended up pushing on it so hard that it broke so now you have to manually put it in gear and then give it gas and that works pretty well.