Johnson 70 lower unit help

[Muletrain9]

I've never worked on johnson outboards before so this will be the 1st of quite a few questions that you all can hopefully help me with.

Bought a boat cheap with a 1989 70 on it. The lower unit was sitting in the boat and the owner had little to no knowledge other than it had run about 10 years earlier. So I figure I'll mess with the lower unit first. It seems to shift into gear ok, but when it goes from neutral to either foreward or reverse, it has slop in the gears. Meaning I can put it in gear and when I go to turn the prop, it takes about a third of a rotation before the gears engage and the shaft spins. Is this a normal amount of play? I'd think it's a bit much, but what the hell do I know? Any experience out there?

 

[racerone]

Normal.

 

[clemsonfor]

I've never worked on johnson outboards before so this will be the 1st of quite a few questions that you all can hopefully help me with.

Bought a boat cheap with a 1989 70 on it. The lower unit was sitting in the boat and the owner had little to no knowledge other than it had run about 10 years earlier. So I figure I'll mess with the lower unit first. It seems to shift into gear ok, but when it goes from neutral to either foreward or reverse, it has slop in the gears. Meaning I can put it in gear and when I go to turn the prop, it takes about a third of a rotation before the gears engage and the shaft spins. Is this a normal amount of play? I'd think it's a bit much, but what the hell do I know? Any experience out there?

Normal. There is an area where the clutch dogs engage that you can spin it both directions before the dog hits the face of the gear where it engages.

This however will not tell you if the gears and dog are worn out where it will jump out of gear under load. It may go into gear fine and you can spin the engine over with the prop in gear but may jump out of gear while under a load.