85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

[Casey6]

Hello everyone new member here. I have a 1985 evinrude 40hp that won't stay in reverse.

I disconnected the control cables to make sure it wasn't them. I shift it in to forward manually and stays in gear and idles fine. When I put it in reverse manually as soon as I let go of the shift lever it jumps out of reverse. The only way it will stay in reverse is if I hold it in gear.

Any ideas what I should check next?

 

[Part-time]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

I would drain the oil out of the LU. Chech for metal fillings or even bigger pieces of metal... The condition of the oil should give you an indication of what's going on in there.

 

[boobie]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

Sounds like a bad clutch dog and reverse gear.

 

[Casey6]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

I just drained the lower unit oil and it looked like chocolate milk. I didn't notice any metal shavings in the oil and there wasn't any shavings on the plugs, it didn't look like they had magnets on them. The model number for the motor is 40ELCOB

 

[boobie]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

It could also be some loose shift linkage going down to the lower unit. But once a gear and dog start jumping they are usually gone.

 

[Casey6]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

well I got it fixed. I stopped by a local marine mechanic monday and he had a good lower unit for my motor. I paid 300 for it and he gave me a warranty on it.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: 85 evinrude won't stay in reverse

I just drained the lower unit oil and it looked like chocolate milk. I didn't notice any metal shavings in the oil and there wasn't any shavings on the plugs, it didn't look like they had magnets on them. The model number for the motor is 40ELCOB

That chocolate milk concoction is a mix of water, gear lube, and rust........two of those things don't belong in there, which more than likely contributed to your problem.