Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

[jspringator]

Can Alumaloy reattach a broken shift lever on a 6 HP johnson? I have never welded anything in my life, but this seems doable.

 

[F_R]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Put on a new lever. It isn't as hard as it looks. Certainly easier than learning to weld.

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

You have to remove the powerhead to fix it. I have a clean break. It could possibly even be epoxied.

 

[reload]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I have fixed a couple with some sheet metal and pop rivits.

 

[Seasport]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I tried welding mine but there's not much metal to work with and didn't work very well. I ended up making a plate out of stainless steel and screwing it to each side. Seems a lot of people break these! It's a pretty simple job to remove the powerhead on these small motors.

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I just ordered some Locktite 430 adhesive for close fitting metal parts. Cheap; might work! I could glue it together with this stuff, then build around it with JB weld.

 

[F_R]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

You haven't given the model number, but it's only like 7 screws to remove the powerhead. Needs new gaskets to put it back together. Nothing to fear.

Or you can use the easy way, clamp a vice-grips onto the broken stub and leave them there.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Epoxy alone won't work. Alumaloy won't work. Outside of replacement, only welding (by someone who absolutely knows what they're doing) or some serious reinforcement (sheet metal, rivets, etc.) with good epoxy will work.
- Scott

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

What about that Locktite?(430) It is a superglue for metal. Like all superglues, it won't fill gaps but should work on fractured parts. I have never used it, or heard of anyone that has, but there should be adhesives that could fix this thing good as new. Locktite products are usually pretty solid. At least I can remove the glue with acetone and try again, provided the lever chooses to break off while I am holding it.

 

[F_R]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I went to the Loctite website and looked it up. Since I'm not an engineer, I don't know what I am reading, but it does seem to have pretty decent tensile strength. But I also notice that it doesn't like water/humidity too much. It loses 50% of it's initial strength after 500 hours @ 95% relative humidity.

Heck, give it a try and let us know how it works. Then we'll all know.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

430 is simply super glue, and 430 designed to fill and hold .005 gaps tops. It is NOT designed for what ya want to do.
If you have room, you might use regular old super glue to hold it together temporary, then get a JB putty stick, and wrap the whole mess back together.
Still easier to get a new shaft/handle

 

[6228SH]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

My 2 cents-consider the cost of the epoxys,etc. as a discount on what a shop wants to weld it-it's easier to think of it that way than spending money on that stuff and then paying for the weld on top of buying the glue.if you do try something and it dosent work,remove it and clean the metal the best you can before bringing it to have it welded.the suggestions of re-enforcing it sound OK,but as a welder I see stuff come in all the time that has been goobered up with jb weld,etc. and the customer ends up being out the time and money for attempting the repair-I am a do it yourselfer too and I dont mean to come across the wrong way here-just offering something to consider.

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I went to a local loktite distributer, Motion Industries, Inc., and the nice guy behind the counter called a loktite engineer on the phone. They recommended an epoxy, Loktite #99394. Had to get it ordered. I am on vacation this week in Panama City, and although Panama City has a Motion, they didn't have this compound.

To be honest, it is shifting quite nicely with the large vice grips. I made sure not to bugger up the end of the break so it should go together as a clean fracture. I will look for a place down here to weld it, but if I can't find any place, I'll try the epoxy.

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Got the handle epoxied on. Let cure 24 hours. Looks great and sppears to work; I pushed shift lever back and forth a few times. This thing was tricky to clamp. I had to hold it until the epoxy started to set up, then held it in place with duct tape on the sides, and top.

I will update after a few uses and see if it holds.

 

[Molaker]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Before you get too horsey with it, I recommend you epoxy a piece of flat stock across the mended break - like a splint. If you can put it on the inside (next to cover), it might not show much.

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I had some leftover aluminium after reinforcing the transom of my portabote and took a closer look at the point of the mended break. It is curved. Any stock I get would have to be thin enough to bend, and then I doubt it would do much good. Is there anything else that would work? What about those aluminium look epoxy rods. I could paint it. I don't want it to look bad.

 

[Molaker]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Not looking at what you are looking at, I can't tell for sure. But, if you could shape some thin flat stock of some kind it should help. Most of the stress would be against the strongest direction of the splint (if that makes sense). But, a rod of some kind could do it, too. Most anything will help distribute the stress away from the actual break.

 

[PW2]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

I recently replaced mine. $70 for a new lever, a few bucks for a couple of gaskets, and a couple of hours of work by a novice, and it's as good as new. No problem.

I have no idea what hiring a welder would cost, but $70 doesn't go too far. Even a pair of vise grips is $15 or so.

I have seen quite a few of them broken, an I've never seen a fix that I would trade for spending the $70 and fixing it right.

 

[jl_photo]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

If you are not going to replace that part, you should invest in some oars. you are going to be rowing home.

I am very familiar with metal work. I have a small machine shop in my garage, i weld aluminum with some success. I don't believe you can get a good bond with any known adhesive.

aluminum is especially hard to glue because it instantly forms an oxide coating when exposed to air. This oxide coating resist adhesion.

welding aluminum in tight places is almost impossible. to get a good weld all surfaces must be ground with a special grinding wheel and cleaned with acetone. cast aluminum can absorb oil which can not easily be removed.



I wish you luck but I agree with the rest. just replace the part

 

[jspringator]

Re: Broken shift lever, 6hp OMC, Alumaloy?

Well, everyone was right. Broke off on the first outing. I'll just use the vice grips for now. Where can I find a replacement shift lever?