1967 ski twin troubles

Hey everyone I'm looking for some help with my old rude,got her running halveway decent but she don't wanna give me neatral or reverse anymore,stuck in forward,cleaned the Lower unit out really well with a few quarts of marvel and then gear lube twice ,i can hear things moving around when I get close to it and operate the shifter,....I did pull the wrong screw out when draining the lower unit I pulled of one that had a shaft on the end ,I noticed thpat I had to move the shifter around to get the screw back in,there is a piece of steel inside there with a hole that the screw sets in,could this screw be the problem?,any input would be appreciated,and thanx.

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

It very well could be the problem. That screw is the pivot point for the fork that moves the clutch dog back and forth. You might have to disassemble the gearcase to get it correctly reassembled.

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

HI Pike. Welcome to iboats. +1 on F_R's suggestion. That would be my guess too. If the phillips head screw gets fiddled with it can affect the ability of the clutch dog to engage tehgears properly. One test would be to drop the LU, then try manually cycling through the gears. Pulling up on the lower shift rod will put it in FWD at which point you should be able to rotate the prop clockwise by hand causing the driveshaft to turn clockwise as well. Pushing down on the rod will put the LU into REV allowing you to rotate the prop counterclockwise while the driveshaft still turns clockwise. If all of these check out, that means the gears are ok in which case you'll need to reinstall the LU and take care that the upper and lower shift rods are connnected properly. These links may help.

Reviving a Vintage Big Twin - Part 1

1967 Johnson RXE-15 33 hp Outboard Motor Parts

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

So even though the screw is back in it may not be installed correctly?,..when taking the Lu apart to inspect can I just remove the lower halve where the drain plug is located? And can I use rtv to seal her back up,....

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

Hello again Pike. You may be able to get the phillips screw to line up again by dropping the lower unit, then removing the screw. You can now gently wiggle the shift rod which may align the hole for the screw. A flashlight and an extra pair of hands are useful. Otherwise, to properly fix the issue, you'll need to drop the entire lower unit, then flip over in order to remove the lower half of the gear case. From there you should be able to reinstall the phillips head screw correctly. You'll then need to reseal the gear case with a new spaghetti seal and some 3M 847 gasket sealant or Permatex Ultra Black. Here's a vid to give you a rough idea of how everything is put together inside the gearcase. It's for slightly different models than yours, but the basics are the same.

Evinrude / johnson 18-20 hp LOWER UNIT disassembly - YouTube

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

I will tear into it sometime in the next few days now that I am armed with some knowledge from you guys,thanx and ill be sure to let u know how it went.....tight lines!

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

Update,have most of it apart and all gears look good ,cycles through forward/neatral/reverse by hand,I just can't figure out how to get the shifting rod apart so I can seperate everything,anyone know what I do next?.............updateing I found the cover for the union that seperates the shifting rod.

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

Hello again Pike. To remove the lower shift rod, you'll first need to lift out the propshaft, bearings and gears. They should all lift out as a single assembly. The You should then be able to pull the lower shift rod out of the LU entirely.

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

kfa4303 said:

Hello again Pike. To remove the lower shift rod, you'll first need to lift out the propshaft, bearings and gears. They should all lift out as a single assembly. The You should then be able to pull the lower shift rod out of the LU entirely.

Click to expand...

I found a cover way uptop that when removed revealed the brass union that disconnects the shifting rod,...made things real simple afterwards

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

Yeah, the little oval window on the side of the leg is designed for that. You just remove the lower bolt and the LU will drop out, you can then disassemble the gearcase and remove the shift rod entirely if you need to replace the o-ring it passes through.

Re: 1967 ski twin troubles

Got her all together officially today and against my better judgement I reinstalled the old propshaft seal"not sure if this seal is actually called this" and sure enough it leaked like a siv,I don't know where I can get a new one,anyone know of a reputable site I can visit?......

Does anyone know if this seal kit part #18-2686 is the one I need? Found while cruising ebay @$20