1989 Evinrude 50hp Reverse but no Forward

[bassfearmee]

I was driving my boat at full throttle the other night and completely lost forward thrust. Motor runs great, reverse and neutral are fine but no forward gear. I can't even sense it shifting into gear when I put the throttle forward.

A few things: First, I changed the water pump and the shift rod seals last week. I'm fairly certain I didn't rotate the rod, but it's a remote possibility. Another thing, since changing the water pump I've been using the motor with no problems over the past three days....forward trolling, forward full throttle, reverse, neutral etc. The issue with the forward thrust happened completely unexpectedly. Prop is fine. I ran the motor in my driveway today and prop is turning in reverse but nothing when in forward gear. Any ideas? I'm ready to just replace or rebuilt the lower unit, but I want to check with you guys before I do anything drastic.

Thanks in advance for your valuable ideas and feedback,

Bob in New Hampshire

 

[93_cherokee]

Check your shift cable

 

[racerone]

Check gear oil.

 

[Auxlarry]

I agree, check your shift cable and make sure it is seated properly and try and adjust it to achieve forward gear. Even though you don't think you turned the shift rod you should have checked the measurement before you installed the LU. I suspect it may be the issue even though you had forward gear. It is possible that it was minimally engaged and finally took the edge off the dogs while running!!