[razorbackbelle08]

Hey all.

I'm new here and just bought a '79 Baja with a '79 Mercury 150 outboard. She ran fine for about the first 45 minutes, then the engine started dying. We found that a connection was the problem there. Once we got her started back up, she ran fine for a while then died again. We re-connected the battery and she started right back up. Then when we dropped the hammer out of neutral to go forward, she wouldn't shift. Revved up just fine, no issues there; just wouldn't go in forward or reverse. Was basically stuck in neutral. We checked the shifter cable and saw that it was disconnected. When we reconnected it, she still wouldn't shift. Is it a bad cable, or could it be gears? I'm at a loss. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[razorbackbelle08]

Anyone?

[razorbackbelle08]

Alright, well, we disconnected the shifter cable and rod and manually put it into forward and reverse. The prop turns with my hand when we do that, however there is a lot of resistance and a clicking noise. So does this mean it's a gearbox issue? If anyone wants to speak up, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

[j_martin]

That sounds like it's in forward gear. Ratchetting when you turn it foward is normal. Shouldn't turn the other way unless the engine also turns. Don't do it, though, it'll wreck the water pump.

It sounds like you want a quick fix genie to solve all your problems. It also sounds like that whole rig is basically falling apart.

The shift thing could be linkage, control adjustment, or bad cables.

engine dying could be overheat, seizing, fuel, or ignition troubles.

At the rate you're going, it'll be anchor material in a week or less.

Slow down, get a maintenance manual, do some preventative maintenance on it, mainly to be sure it has lube in it, is oiling, etc, and also to familiarize yourself with the engine. Then fix what's wrong and go boating.

hope it helps
John

[razorbackbelle08]

Thank you for the insight there, John.

According to J&J Marine here locally, they are saying the entire lower unit needs to be replaced. Stripped gears. Would it be possible to replace those gears instead of paying $2500 for it new?

[j_martin]

Originally Posted by razorbackbelle08

Thank you for the insight there, John.

According to J&J Marine here locally, they are saying the entire lower unit needs to be replaced. Stripped gears. Would it be possible to replace those gears instead of paying $2500 for it new?

Sure, for about 3 grand.

Used lower units are available all over the place from under blown powerheads. They fit for many years, and most are 1.87 geerz like yers. go for next to nothing to about a grand.

It's not hard to put it on the mid. Takes a couple of people, unless yer well organized and/or double jointed, but it's a 10 minute job once you've done it once.

I would ammend my list of engine killing things. breaking gears can do it. If I had to guess, yers ran out of lube for lack of maintainance.

That engine is worth about a grand in good shape. Don't go nuts on it. If it were mine I'd do a compression check. If it's basically healthy, it's worth fixin' up with used parts.

Get a book, there's a procedure for installing the lu, and a couple of simple pitfalls to avoid.

Thanks for taking my jabs so gracefully. I'm not known for diplomacy.

hope it helps
John

[razorbackbelle08]

Well, we disassembled the LU and figured out the driveshaft was toast. Obviously J&J just wanted to sell us an entire LU, thinking we were idiots. Anyway, the driveshaft was sheared thanks to the hot foot pedal in it, methinks. We found a good used one for a couple hundred and replaced it, but now for some reason we can't get her to go into forward gear. We've checked the gears and everything and they're alright, and she goes into reverse beautifully. Now we're both really stumped!

[razorbackbelle08]

I should also add that we do have the book, and have been living by it... and we took your advice on the compression test, and the engine is very healthy... except for these darned lower unit issues! Thanks again for the insight; I'm not worried about diplomacy. That's a four letter word here in the South...