1971 Johnson 50 HP

Firstly, awesome site. Seems to have a lot of guru's so i'm hoping someone may be able to help me out.

I have a 1971 Johnson 50 horse outboard. I'm trying to troubleshoot my problem without very much knowledge of outboards. It seems to be stuck in gear, even if the shifter is in the neutral position. Irregardless if you turn the flywheel clockwise or counter clockwise, it turns the prop as well and you can hear the lower unit turning with the motor. The controls look as if they are engaging on the motor when you move the shifter, so i dont think its my linkage. I just cannot seem to get the motor to go into neutral.

I just don't know where to start on how to troubleshoot the issue. Is it going to be 100% in lower unit?

Thanks for any help.

Joshua

Re: 1971 Johnson 50 HP

If the linkage isn't adjusted properly it won't shift correctly. Disconnect the linkage and see if you can pull the linkage by hand and shift it.

Re: 1971 Johnson 50 HP

Welcome to iboats.If you check your manual I believe your model is what they called a Selectric shift which means it has an electrical component in your lower unit that does the shifting. Either the wires to them are bad or they are bad, You will have to remove the lower unit and check them out with a meter.