first time writer, but reading this site for the last month. i am having problems with my 1958 18hp fastwin s/n 15024, not wanting to go into gear when the motor is on. i had to replaced the pinion gear and while i was in there went ahead and changed all seals and impeller. i thought i had the linkage adjustments right cause the prop will engage wiht the motor off and i can feel the clutch dog engaging too, but when i crank it and its in water, nothing happens? any help would be greatly appreciated. gotta get on the water soon, cause the fish are calling my name.
I don't think there is any adjustment per say.Just proper assembly.
Is the idle nice and low about 700 rpm? Is the coupler clamp properly ingaged? There are grooves in the rods that the clamp bolts have to pass through.
i have set the rods in the coupler and the rod shifts up and down. but like i said, it'll engage with the motor off but not while on. i have read on some of the other posts about the shift lever and the 2 bolts that are used for adjustment, but what is the correct setting on the lever? i have checked for slop in the upper rod and everything feels good. could it be the way i put the LU back in? it was getting a little dark when i did it, but it slide together easily after a few turns of the flywheel. should i drop it again and realign?
steele, yes the rods have notches for the bolts in the coupler. as far as the coupler clamp, not sure? where is that exactly located? this is my first motor so terminolgy is a little new for me.
sounds like the shift rod is out of sync.take apart and line up again .make sure its in neuturl with the lower shift rod and do the same with the shift lever.be careful when you put back together that you dont knock the lower shift rod down thus putting it in gear and assembling wrong,making it not want to shift.
cool, thx for the response. i'll try it this evening and see if i get some better results. also, could i have thrown it off by adjusting the shift lever first?
what do you mean by adjusting the shift lever first,normally the lever should not need to be touched atall?some time it takes a little fooling around but you will get it im sure and then you will go ahhhh! that was easy.everybody has their little tricks for this procedure me i use a set of long nose needlenose pliers to keep the lower rod from moving and it helps if you grow a third hand,lol.just be patient.
there was some slop in the shifting lever so i loosened the 2 screws that are on the lever to see the mechanics behind it and by putting it in forward and having the screws loosened, i was able to get the shifter to tighten up a little more. it seems like it helped it when shifting, before the pinion gear went out. dropping the LU tonight and got a friend to give a hand, so i'm gonna try the realignment trick and see if that helps. let me know if that adjustment on the shifter was a bad idea. thanks.
I have the same motor and I replaced the lower unit. I don't think there's any way to adjust the shift rod. The way it fits into the coupler (the place half way up the motor), there are groves at the top of the shift rod that must line up with the bolts in order for the bolts to screw in all the way. I don't think you can adjust it, it's either in there or it's not. Also, it doesn't matter what gear it's in when you put back together b/c once it's connected you just shift it to whatever gear you want.
If the shif rod is connected and it moves in and out of gear when the motor is off, and it won't do it when the motor is running, it's something wrong with either the clutchdog or the gears, but probably the clutchdog. Apparently if the previous owner didn't engage the motor into gear swiftly it wears away the clutchdog and rounds off the edges of the teeth on it so after a while it won't stay in gear any more.
If you can't figure it out, check ebay, there is a lower unit on there right now for this motor for $129. I don't know if you can find a replacement clutchdog and what if it's not the clutchdog but the gears? Just replacing the whole lower unit is easier, but maybe more expensive. At least then you have extra parts in case something happens to the new lower unit.
Also, I have read that you can try flipping the clutchdog around so that the side that was for reverse is now forward. Most likely, the forward gear would be worn out more than the reverse gear so you may be able to do that. I tried it on mine but it still wanted to pop out of gear. I even messed with the shift lever and pulled it another inch further forward by moving that thing out of the way that has notches in it for each gear. I was able to pull it about another inch into forward gear, and that helped keep it in gear for a little bit, but as you gave it gas it would just start grinding and vibrating and not going anywhere.
Once I put the new lower unit on, it worked perfectly, no adjusting anything at all.
dropped the LU this past weekend and tried to slid the drive shaft in while in neutral, but it doesn't want to go. if i'm not mistaken, i'm pretty sure it has to be in forward at the lever.
hughes, inspected all gears and clutch dog when i was originally diagnosing my problem. the f/r gears looked good and sharp and the clutch dog did have a little wear but i just reversed it. everything in the LU was fine, except the pinion gear. got a question though, when i was removing the snap ring than holds the drive shaft and pinion together, a splinned shaft came out? i'm pretty sure it rides in the pinion gear and the snap ring keeps it in place, but what engages the drive shaft on that pinion?
The pinion and drive shaft are splined. The c-clip keeps the drive shaft from sliding through the pinion gear. Your shift handle might be out of ajustment.
1958 18 hp evinrude shifting problem
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