fastwin 18h pops out of gear

I am the proud owner of a 18h fastwin, my problem is that it sometimes wants to pop out of gear, when it does this I can idle down and then back up and it will go again, then pop out once more. I dont know the year but the serial numbers are 18602c-E1 729 (there is a faint 0 in between the 1 and 7).Can someone help me find the problem and how to fix it?

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

bad clutch dog and forward gear. time for a lower unit rebuild, but expensive.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

Could anyone tell me how much $ i might be looking at. And one more question... the previous owner told me that the motor was a 73, but when i look up the serial numbers on the computer it says that it is a 66, and then there is the serial number which is 18602C-E1 729 which doesn't suggest either to be right since there isn't a 73 or a 66 in the number. Any help would once again be greatly appreciated.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

yep, 18602 indicates its a 1966 18hp.
The model year is encoded.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

Time to open up the LU and have a look inside. Let it drain for a good day or so, unless you want to smell like hypoid oil for a while. Sounds like the ears that engage the clutch dog to Forward gear are shot...they wear down over time. You can still get clutch dogs for that motor...check the forward gear, too, where it meshes with the clutch dog. Another option is to simply replace the LU...many years will interchange...problem is knowing what you are buying is any better than what you have. If the ears on both side of the clutch dog aren't worn badly, you can turn the clutch dog around and get some more use out of it...but you won't have reverse.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

first verify that your shear pin is not broken. I had that motor, and once the pin broke but it would still catch the edge and work at lower speeds but slip at higher. I think this is unlikely but worth a check before you start taking stuff apart.
Also see how hard it will be to take it apart. One reason I had to get rid of mine was that the bolts were so frozen that it wasn't worth working on. Salt water motor.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

hey could he have bad motor mounts, i had an old 9.5 seahorse that did the same thing, the motor would torque up and pull itself out of gear, i thought my bottom end was trashed but mechanic replced two of the four mounts and never had another prob. was still a couple hundred dollar ordeal but thought i'de throw my two cents in, can try to see if motor moves excessively in housing, before tearing the lu apart

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

im not 100% on that model but my 56 and 57, after the exact problem i tore the unit apart and noticed a few thing and came here to verify. Im up and running perfect and will share my exp.

I had exact problem, tore lwr unit apart to find worn dog and badly scored fwd gear (wear it meshes with clutch)

Now before you tear LU apart which really is easy peasy to do check fwd shift adjustment. make sure it is as far as itll go fwd. ie the clutch dog is fully engaged when in fwd. Your problem is either its not fully engaged and its now worn enough to pop out, adjusting fwd more may "fix" the problem. or the dog is really really WORN

2 what I ended up doing as a learning experience i tore lwr unit apart, dog was badly chipped and mating surface on fwd gear was rounding a lil.

now depending on how bad your gears are and how cheap a fix you want you can simply flip the dog so rev side is now fwd. Also I know in my lower unit the fwd and rev gears are identical except for the bushings. double check yours when apart,unless someone else can chime in here. pres the bushings out swap the them and make your rev now fwd and fwd rev. 60$ buys you a new clutch dog and your golden.

Re: fastwin 18h pops out of gear

i had the same motor do the exact same thing, a 1972 evinrude fastwin... as everyone else is clarifying i had a worn clutch dog and the engagers on my forward gear had tapered off, had to rebuild, now i have the problem of a sneezing motor but i hear these 18'hps are notorious for it :S