Re: forward gear slipping & popping out
Sounds like it may be the same problem a few of us have suffered, a worn clutch dog, which has nothing to do with the powerhead you'll be pleased to hear!<br />If you look in your manual you'll see how the clutch dog works, it slides back and forth on the propshaft and engages with the forward or reverse gears, it has two "ears" which engage with corresponding ones on the faces of the gears, and if these become worn and rounded it will pop out of gear.<br />Luckily the dog is made from softer steel than the gear so it's more likely the dog has worn, but you'll still have to search for a replacement. A quick temporary fix is to turn the dog around,it's symmetrical front and back so will work either way, turning it around should give you forward gear OK but it'll probably slip out of reverse now instead, so you'll still need to find that replacement dog, but at least you may be able to use the motor in the meantime. <br />You'll need to drop the lower unit and open the gearcase to check and replace the dog, it's an easy enough job requiring no special tools, and will give you the chance to check loads of other stuff while you're at it, such as the water pump, gearcase seals etc...<br />I've seen good used and NOS dogs on eBay, otherwise check the many old outboard breakers online.
