1979 Johnson 35 35el79a

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dade61782

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
79
Hi all i just bought a 79 johnson 35 it has been sitting up 4 years the previous owner said. the motor looks pretty clean the wiring harness is toast and of course the carb had syrup in the float bowl. but the major problem is the shift lever will only move about a half inch into forward and wont move at all into reverse. any ideas i am going to pull the lower unit to change the water pump but want to see what you guys think
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: 1979 Johnson 35 35el79a

turn the prop when trying to shift it. check lower unit for water in lube.
 
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dade61782

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
79
Re: 1979 Johnson 35 35el79a

there is no water in the lube turning the prop doesnt help hand turning the flywheel doesnt either. i can hear the shift rod moving in the lower unit but it will not engage
 
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dade61782

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
79
Re: 1979 Johnson 35 35el79a

I started tearing into the lower unit to replace the water pump and find out what the problem was with the shift lever and rod. It was a constant fight I think every bolt is froze up on this thing. When I finally got the lower unit off the shift rod on the LU was not to hard to engage in gear, but the shift lever on the motor was still very stiff well it turns out the grease must of hardened up or some thing. since all the bolts are froze up I dont want to break another one off i just got the other one out. Im thinking of taking out the grease zert and cleaning it out. any ideas
 
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