Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

[twintrades]

I have a 40 hp super seahorse. And have a shifting question to anyone who may have a helpful answer.

I was out on the lake and all of the sudden i jumped from forward to nutral. OK.....Shifted into reverse and backed ino the dock.

Next i found out that the sift linkage came apart. So i installed a new bolt.
( I couldent raise the lower part so i droped the shifter linkage down on top of it. I saw a notch in the lower end so when the upper go's over it i could put the bolt in and it looks like it would hold it.) checked the shifting and all looks good. ( tub checked it )

Put it back in the lake and drove for about 30 sec and it acts like its outa gear!!! Looked at the linkage its there. And intact.... I cant shift into forward. It now has forwardReverse , nutral , And reverse. Yup forward on the controls is reverse as is the reg all the way back is reverse.

What is going on? Did i not hook up the linkage right? what should i do ??

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

Did you or anyone else by any chance remove the philips screw from the skeg of the lower unit? If not, I'd suspect that the shift connector has allowed the upper or lower shift rod to move out of its proper location OR another area of the shift linkage has failed.

Check to see if that shift connector moves when you move the shift lever.

 

[F_R]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

Quote:
Put it back in the lake and drove for about 30 sec and it acts like its outa gear!!! Looked at the linkage its there. And intact.... I cant shift into forward. It now has forwardReverse , nutral , And reverse. Yup forward on the controls is reverse as is the reg all the way back is reverse.

Say what?????

Anyhow, does it shift by hand if you disconnect the control cable?

 

[twintrades]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

I have it on the back of our fourwheeler now and if i shift it by hand everything moves and it goes into gear. ( I cant spin the prop)

No one took the screw holding the clutch dog thing.

If i disconect the cable and shift by hand it dosnt make a differance. When it happened i was going wot and it clatterd like mad. I mean it wouldnt shift into forward it would just bounce.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

trying to put it in forward or reverse, and it bounces is usually the clutch dog bad. or a bent shift rod.

 

[twintrades]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

The motor dosnt bounce it's the little lever that helps hold the gears in place. The one that has notches cut out for forward a "nitch" for nutral And a notch for reverse.

That peice is what clatters. THe first time it hapened i could hold the lever forward enuf (by hand) to keep it in gear. That was the only way.

 

[twintrades]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

bump

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Jhonson super sea horse shifting problem

As Tash states..... That is normally caused by the lobes on the clutch dog (and also usually the lobes on the gear) being worn somewhat.

(Jumping Out Of Gear - Manual Type)
(J. Reeves)

This pertains to lower units on all OMC manual shift outboard engines, or any OMC engine with lower units defined as a Shift Assist or a Hydro Electric Shift unit which incorporates a "Shifter Clutch Dog".

Within the lower unit, splined to the prop shaft is what is most often referred to as a clutch dog, hereafter simply called dog. The dog has at least two lobes protruding from it on both ends, facing both forward and reverse gear. The forward and reverse gears also have lobes built into them near their center area. When the engine is running, in neutral, the gears are spinning constantly via the driveshaft being connected directly to the powerhead crankshaft, but the propeller does not turn due to the fact that the dog is centered between the two gears, and the dog lobes are not touching either of the gear lobes.

When the unit is put into either gear, shift linkages force the dog (and its lobes of course) to engage the lobes of the gear. The lobes of the spinning gear grab the lobes of the dog, and since the dog is splined to the prop shaft, the propeller turns.

The lobes of the dog and gears are precisely machined, most with right angled edges that could be installed in either direction, and some with angles slightly varied that must be installed in one direction only (one end only must face the propeller). Dogs that can be installed in one direction only, if reversed, even if the dog and both gears were new.... would jump out of gear almost immediately. Keep in mind that the lobes are precisely machined with sharp angles!

Due to improper adjustment or worn shift linkages, but usually due to improper slow shifting, those precisely machined sharp edges of the lobes become slightly rounded. Now, with those lobes rounded, as the rpms increase, the pressure of the gear lobes upon the dog lobes increases to a point whereas they are forced apart (jumping out of gear), and due (usually) to the shift cable keeping tension on the engines shift linkages..... the unit is forced back into gear giving one the sensation that the engine has hit something, and the cycle continues.

Some boaters have the mistaken belief that shifting slowly is taking ixt easy on all of the shifting components..... Wrong! Shifting slowly allows those precisely machined sharp edges of the dog and gears to click, clank, bang, slam against each other many times before they are finally forced into alignment with each other..... and this is what rounds those edges off! The proper way to shift is to snap the unit into gear as quickly as possible.