1966 Johnson 33hp Super Seahorse not shifting smoothly

Scovbert

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
98
hey guys, i have this outboard and its not shifting smoothly...when i got this motor the shifter was frozen stiff and was missing the grease fitting so never the less i went out bought and installed the grease fitting. After heating the shifter with a burnz-o-matic and filling it with grease i got it moving smoothly and by hand(cable ready) where as when i got it i had to put a wrench on the shift to put it in gear. Its been about a week since i freed it up and today i went out there to install the new cables for my controls and it was back to being stiff again...not as bad as when i picked it up, but back to using the wrench to shift it. I fallowed the same steps with the heat and grease and i also put some liquid wrench on the the piviot point of the shifter and it still wouldnt move as easily as last week...now i can't hook up the cable because theres no way the cable will be able to pull and push it in and out of gear. Any advice will be appreciated...thanks guys.
 

F_R

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
28,224
Re: 1966 Johnson 33hp Super Seahorse not shifting smoothly

Might as well face it, you are going to have to pull the powerhead and remove the shifter and physically clean the corrosion out of it. Use a new o-ring when you put it back together. You also need a new powerhead gasket.

Besides, it might be the pivot at the inner shift lever (clevis) and upper shift rod. That area gets mighty tight sometimes, and needs disassembly and cleaning. It's all right there under the powerhead.
 

Daviet

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
8,958
Re: 1966 Johnson 33hp Super Seahorse not shifting smoothly

It might be crudded up internally so bad that you might have to pull it apart and clean it and lube it properly.
 

Scovbert

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
98
Re: 1966 Johnson 33hp Super Seahorse not shifting smoothly

i would hate to have to do that...my first launch is supossed to be this thursday! Idk how it could be working mint one day and then all of a sudden back to being tighter than a crabs ***? I mean i could easily shift it by hand and now its a struggle...i guess if pulling the power head is my only option ill have to do it, but man i would hate to have too.
 
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