1963 Super Seahorse shifting problem

[CatfishMN]

Hi everyone. I have browsed the site for awhile and have learned some stuff about my motor from other posts here. Maybe someone can help me with this?

So this spring I bought a used boat/motor combo. The motor turned out to be a 1963 Super Seahorse 28HP. The previous owner had set up remote steering and throttle on this boat, both of which work well. The motor also fires right up.

The problem I am encountering is this. When I shift it into forward and give it some gas, the shift lever 'jumps' from the forward position and seems to disengage the forward gear resulting in a huge loss of power. It still runs as if in forward, but at greatly reduced power. If I idle back, shift back to neutral, then back to forward, I get good power again until it again 'jumps'.

Has anyone ever seen this before? If you were to guess, does this sound like a problem in the remote shift or in the motor's transmission?

Thanks!

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: 1963 Super Seahorse shifting problem

Could be the clutch dog. Does it "bang" out and into gear at higher rpm's? May be time to crack the case and look inside.

 

[CatfishMN]

Re: 1963 Super Seahorse shifting problem

Could be the clutch dog. Does it "bang" out and into gear at higher rpm's? May be time to crack the case and look inside.

Hi - thanks for the fast response. It does 'bang' out when I am just above halfway between the start position and full throttle. Can you explain where I can start to look at or troubleshoot the clutch dog? In other words, where is this part? The lower unit? Is it a readily available part? Is this a job an amatuer can tackle?

Thanks again!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1963 Super Seahorse shifting problem

Cat, If you have the mechanical shift gearcase (chift lever on starboard side of motor), the gearcase will have 12 screws which can be removed to open it up. A lot of the parts you need may be hard to get or expensive. I would find out price and availability of shift cradle, shift dog and forward gear.

In a pinch, you can replace the shift cradle, switch forward gear with reverse and reverse the shift dog. However, it this has already been done, you will need to replace some of these items.