Re: BF130 Hard Shifting
A lower unit is a lower unit is a lower unit... At least as far as the gears go. Most brands differ only in bearing type (roller/needle, all needle...) and in how the clutch is actuated or "connected" to the shift linkage. I just had a similar problem in my Nissan 90, it is new, and when I took the lower unit apart, it was clean and like new, and that was the problem. My clutch would go into reverse but not return due to a little metal shaving that came off from the casting inside. It was aluminum, and all the working internals are steel. The Nissan lower unit is designed that when going from F to N, or N to R, the cable pushes the shift rod down, which pushes on a cam type block, which then pushes the clutch in the direction of the prop. When you shift from R to N, or N to F, the cam moves in the opposite direction, and relieves pressure on the clutch, but does not pull the clutch with it, the only force acting on the clutch to move it forward is from a spring. The Spring is relatively stout, but it was not stout enough against the lodged shaving. It was one of those 1:1,000,000... situations, that shaving was tiny, and could have floated around in the lower unit for the life of the engine without ever showing itself. In any case, disassembly and a good cleaning took care of the problem. I also took a file and rounded off the edges of the splines where the clutch rides at the ends of the slot, they were sharp enough to filet fish with, and I could feel them grab ever so slightly when manually sliding the clutch back and forth. In other words, after over 200 hours, it was still not completely broken in. It is much smother now, I can shift with just a finger rather than a bear paw. I am not sure how Honda lower units are designed, but I would imagine, as many Japanese products, they are quite similar. They are not as apprehensive in sharing ideas and designs as we are. Get a book before you do anything though. It is a cheap investment. <br /><br />By the way, though it took a while with the file to round off the edges on the splines on the prop shaft, I could do nothing with the splines on the clutch, talk about hardened steel!