Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

70 hp Johnson Seahorse with power pilot.
When I start it up and raise the fast idle the boat takes off backwards.Fishing
When I shift into foward the boat take off backwards.
Ihad it working the other day started across the water and it would not go full throttle and then it cut off, thought I had not opened the vent on fuel tank so opened that and started up and the boat went backward.
The boat has been setting up awhile but I thought I had checked everthing but now I don't know. This was my fathers boat and it is special to me.

Any Ideas?????
Happing Fishing...

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

First of all, Welcome Aboard. You have come to the right place for all things boat.

Second, a little more info. Year/model# helps alot. Have you been wrenching on anything, or is this a totally new development?

You had it running, it stopped, so you opened the tank vent and then it ran backwards? Did I read that right?

Sounds like some linkage has slipped, either in the control (most likely) or under the cowl.


<<)))(((>>

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

X2 it defiantly sounds like a linkage problem to me as well. I would look it all over for something out of place.

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

Thanks for them welcome.
A little more info:
1980 Johnson Seahorse
Model 70 ELCS
70 hp
its on a terry bass boat set up for crappie fishing.
This is not the first time this has happened, first time I put the boat in the water this season and cranked it up it took off backward. Could not get it to go foward so I put it back on the trailer and sent it home by a friend. (I was camping with my grandkids) After I got home I got to fooling with it, taking the top cover off motor and spraying the linkage with WD40 and working the shifter back and forth and it would not go in reverse but after working with it, it freed up. Cranked it up and it was working fine had wife to work the shifter as I watched and the prop would change direction. back fishing I go that is when it cut off and I guess shifted it self back in reverse. after fishing a couple hours (with trolling motor) I got back to the dock and tied the boat off and tried it again and it still didn't come out of reverse. So I loaded it up brought it home.
Some one told me it could be the throttle friction on the back of the power pilot. I have took the Power pilot off but could not get it to open all the way, (scared if I opened it up all the way something would fall out and I would not be able to put it back together.

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

I don't know much about your particular motor but the same symptoms happened to me years ago. I had a little runabout with a 40hp Johnson and took it on a house boat trip on Lake Cumberland. I put it in the water and it only worked in reverse. Ended up towing it behind the houseboat all week long and never got to use it. Brought it home and discovered I had not attached the shift linkage coupler properly after I serviced the lower unit before the trip. It would push down and into reverse, but when shifted into forward, the shift lever and upper half of the shift linkage would move up as it should but since it wasn't actually connected to the lower half of the shift linkage, it would just remain in reverse. Took 5 minutes to fix it.

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

I would not use it again until you figure out what's going on with it. Take the control box apart - don't worry, there's nothing in there that's going to jump out at you. If something falls out, it was likely broken anyway...

Re: Johnson Seahorse won't come out of reverse

I have took the Power Pilot apart and greased every thing up, Took the foot off the motor and made sure the shaft worked put it all together and using my foot to spin the prop while someone move the control it seemed to work and fid each gear,,, but hook up the muffs and crank it up and move the shifter it still jumps into reverse. ajusted the linkage from one extreme to the next. Not sure what to do next.