'69 johnson hydro electric shift V4

[Maxwell-8]

Hello everyone,
I have a 1969 Johnson V4 with 115hp.
It has the hydro electric shift.
The engine runs great and has all the power to propel my boat forward.
The gearbox doesn't like reserve though. It keeps stripping the gear selector teeth.
I replaced the axle and gears twice, got new seals, redone the wiring and made sure the switch is working correctly. I am using the correct hydro shift oil. Yet when I fix everything she will go in reverse a couple of times and then, the gears are grinding again. Neutral is working fine.
What could be a possible cause of this problem? A bad hydro pump?

And will this engine block fit on a non electric shift gearcase?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[racerone]

The engine block will not fit on a motor of 1973 and newer.----Sounds like an issue with shift piston bore.----So clean the bore.----Test shift function before installing the lower unit on the motor.

 

[racerone]

Electric shift units are well designed, very reliable, easy to trouble shoot and repair.---That is my opinion, some will argue and disagree.

 

[Maxwell-8]

Electric shift units are well designed, very reliable, easy to trouble shoot and repair.---That is my opinion, some will argue and disagree.

It is simple to take apart and works very well for the forward and neutral.
Also very dummy proof to use. ( not possible to grind gears).

Is the yellow marked part the shift piston bore?


Reverse still works out of the water. the moment it sees a load from the prop, it doesn't like it. Sometimes with a 14p prop it will go in reverse on idle. With the 19P prop it grinds.

 

[racerone]

No---Item #10 is the shift piston.----For reverse it needs more oil pressure to compress the spring.-----If someone fooled with solenoid adjustment that could also be an issue.---Clean the shift piston bore.---Replace o-ring item #8

 

[Maxwell-8]

No---Item #10 is the shift piston.----For reverse it needs more oil pressure to compress the spring.-----If someone fooled with solenoid adjustment that could also be an issue.---Clean the shift piston bore.---Replace o-ring item #8

thank you, I will give that a go.
I had someone redo two gear sets for me. He replaced the bushings in the forward and reverse gears so they didn't have so much play on the axle.

A before:
View attachment 1705270042852.jpeg

View attachment 1705270202744.jpeg

 

[racerone]

There is no " bushing " in reverse gear.-----Reverse gear does NOT touch the propshaft ( axle )----Ask your mechanic to explain that theory !

 

[Maxwell-8]

There is no " bushing " in reverse gear.-----Reverse gear does NOT touch the propshaft ( axle )----Ask your mechanic to explain that theory !

there is a bronze bushing in n° 24 that rides on n° 23.? Or is that gear floating and held in place by the two bearings on either siden°20 and no°71?

Therefor not really needing the bushing inside. Because it has one and and had been noticeably riding on the original propshaft aswell as the donor.

 

[racerone]

There is no bronze bushing in the reverse gear as far as I know. ---And #71 is a thrust washer.

 

[Maxwell-8]

There is no bronze bushing in the reverse gear as far as I know. ---And #71 is a thrust washer.

Mine is a Belgium motor, the propshaft is considerably longer than the American propshaft. Maybe a possible difference. He showed me the old bushing he pulled out. I will see if I still got a picture of it.
Anyway, many thanks for your input!

 

[racerone]

#20 is a thrust bearing.----Reverse gear floats on #29.-----None of these items have anything to do with reverse gear shifting , unless there are parts missing. !----Are you prepared to do some simple inspection on this lower unit ??

 

[racerone]

Your location ?----Model # of your motor ?----Post pictures.----I did not know of a unit made in Belgium.-----Perhaps it is not the original gearcase?

 

[Maxwell-8]

#20 is a thrust bearing.----Reverse gear floats on #29.-----None of these items have anything to do with reverse gear shifting , unless there are parts missing. !----Are you prepared to do some simple inspection on this lower unit ??

yes, I did a partial rebuild twice, Got already a fair bit of money in this engine, and yes she is old, but she always starts, runs well over 45 mph. And I am not giving up so fast on this electro shift.
Here is the serial number: 115ESL69E B1583
I live in Belgium,
Here in Bruges, a city of Belgium, was a Johnson factory for many years.
I believe back in the day, this was the biggest outboard they made.

The boat and engine is still being used for certain events in our town, events like the student rowing team, or last winter, we had to rescue someone who had fallen in the canal.

 

[racerone]

Need to concentrate on the shift piston.----Shift piston bore.----Oil pressure and shift control valves.----The damage on the forward gear clutch dog indicates there are issues with those items.---The spring puts this thing in forward and no damage can occur as shown in your pictures !

 

[Maxwell-8]

Need to concentrate on the shift piston.----Shift piston bore.----Oil pressure and shift control valves.----The damage on the forward gear clutch dog indicates there are issues with those items.---The spring puts this thing in forward and no damage can occur as shown in your pictures !

Is there a way to measure the pressure?

 

[jimmbo]

You haven't got the Neutral and the Reverse Wires swapped somewhere?

 

[stresspoint]

don't rule out the helm shifter , the switches may have corrosion causing the button to not make proper contact , there is also springs to hold the contact , if one is weak or corroded same issue ,
if this happens it will stop the gearbox will jump out of position.

 

[stresspoint]

in the thumbnail pic you can see the spring has dis lodged , this caused the motor to randomly jump out of gear.

 

[Maxwell-8]

don't rule out the helm shifter , the switches may have corrosion causing the button to not make proper contact , there is also springs to hold the contact , if one is weak or corroded same issue ,
if this happens it will stop the gearbox will jump out of position.

That looks way different then mine. I have the switches in the controller.
I cleaned the controller, and they seem to work well. Out of the water, it switches perfectly everytime between forward, neutral, reverse.

Apart from that, the engines works fine. I am soft when docking so rarely need reverse, but like I mentioned, the boat is often in the water with other people doing a variety of activity's. More from a safety-standpoint, I would like to get this fixed.

 

[racerone]

With some simple inspection ( post #14 ) it should be an easy fix.---That is my opinion.