1974 Evinrude - Can't find reverse or neutral

[Smoinaladoo]

But it'll certainly start in forward, so I guess it's not totally broken!

Anyway, I've made a few simple gear shifter adjustments (per the manual) and replaced the lower unit lube and no change.

Seems to throw ok and the piece that is actuated with a spring (near the flywheel, what the heck does that piece do?) when shifting moves around but not much. The bushing seems to fall into place on to the detentes (that is also connected to mystery piece).

I did notice that it shifted much easier after I emptied the lower unit lube, but tended shifting harder after refill (normal?).

Should I be able to find neutral and spin the prop easily?

I'm not overly concerned and don't think it's the dog because it rides nicely in forward and never slips, but I've got to think that it's not good to start this thing in forward even at an extremely low idle. I've invested a bit of money to get it running and want to keep it in shape if at all possible.

Thanks for the assistance!

 

[Smoinaladoo]

Re: 1974 Evinrude - Can't find reverse or neutral

Almost forgot... model# 25402M

 

[F_R]

Re: 1974 Evinrude - Can't find reverse or neutral

The "mystery" plastic piece is the recoil starter lockout. There are actually supposed to be two "mystery" plastic pieces, the first one operates the second one. The second one is supposed to pivot in towards the recoil starter when in gear, catching on some teeth on the rope pulley, and preventing you from pulling the rope. When in neutral, it pivots outward, away from the rope pulley, allowing the rope to be pulled.

It was sort of a crappy design and gave a lot of trouble. That caused a lot of people to remove one or both plastic pieces.

In fact, the year that it was first designed, 1973, they gave so much trouble that they would quit working on motors that had never even been started yet, still sitting on the showroom floor. We called the factory concerning the problem and they actually sent the Evinrude rep to our showroom to see for himself what the problem was. As a result, they changed the material of one of the plastic pieces. Your 1975 should have the improved material.

Anyhoo, if your motor has both plastic pieces and they are adjusted according to the manual, they should work as intended.

BUT, you mentioned something else...of course the prop should spin freely in neutral. And if not running, you may have to spin it by hand to get it out of neutral. And the vertical detented interlock bar prevents you from shifting it at all if the throttle is set to high, toward "fast".

You indicate that you have the manual. That should explain all this stuff and how to adjust it.

 

[jasper60103]

Re: 1974 Evinrude - Can't find reverse or neutral

Regarding the shifting problem.
A remote possibility is if someone accidentally removed the pivot pin to drain the lube. There's a good chance the cradle will separate from the shifter lever inside the gearcase. In fact, the cradle will likely fall out of place when the pivot pin is removed. When this happens you will loose shifting ability, even if you put the pivot pin back in. You may have to open the gearcase to remedy.
Of course, these things only happen to yours truly.