No Forward but Neutral, Reverse works

[replayingit]

Hey guys. New boater here with a question and was wondering if you can point me to the right direction.

I purchased a boat with a 71 Johnson 85 motor with Hydro Electric Shift. The motor itself runs well but it has shifting issues. When I start the boat in Neutral and when I shift to Forward, it just revs, it revs even more as I give it more Forward throttle. From Neutral, I'm able to put it to reverse just fine, the propeller goes counter clockwise. When the shifter is in Reverse and when I shift to Forward, then the boat is able to go Forward but it takes about 3 seconds to engage and its pretty harsh when the prop goes from counter clockwise to clockwise. When the green and blue wires are disconnected then the boat starts in Forward. Thanks.

 

[rockyrude]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Without the engine running, it should be in forward. As soon as the engine starts it should go into neutral. I would check the lower unit lube to be sure it's the right stuff. Those lower units use OMC premium lube or generic type c for proper operation.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Without the engine running, it should be in forward. As soon as the engine starts it should go into neutral. I would check the lower unit lube to be sure it's the right stuff. Those lower units use OMC premium lube or generic type c for proper operation.

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to metion. I drained the lower unit oil and filled it back with Sierra Type C gear lube.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

I'm thinking this might be a mechanical issue rather than electrical(shifter, solenoid, green/blue wire) and I'm thinking about pulling the prop and prop shaft to check for any wear or broken parts. I was wondering how difficult of a job it would be to do this? Do I need special tools? Thanks.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

After doing a bit more research, some people suggest it could be a spun hub. I was wondering though, if it was a spun hub, would I still have reverse?

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Haha it looks like I'm the only one with this problem.

 

[Wishniwasfishin]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Haha it looks like I'm the only one with this problem.

I have a evinrude 55 with same issue. Runs great but won't go into forward or reverse. Pulled prop to check to see if it was spun looked good. Drained lower unit to check for metal flakes. I haven't go any help or answers yet. I'm thinking it's a issue in the lower unit. Pulling the shift cables tomorrow to try and shift manually. Good luck.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Update:

I pulled the prop shaft to inspect the clutch dog and gears and it looks like my clutch dog is pretty worn. The clutchdog has rounding on the reverse side and a little wear on the forward side. The reverse gear also has some rounding but the forward gear looks okay. Could this be causing my shifting issues? Also, how do I take off the clutch dog from the prop shaft? Thanks. Bellow are some pictures.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

How do they even get the spring on the clutchdog?

 

[durban]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

it gets fed on in one direction staring with the end like a spiral feed it i clockwise or anticlockwise depending wich end you start with would feed it off to the grove next to the one its in now , once in there then over the ends .

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Got it. Thank you. I've never seen a new clutch dog before and was wondering how bad mine looked?

 

[durban]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

the left hand side is cooked by looking at photo

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

That's kind of what confuses me is that I'm having issues with forward just reving with no motion. The gear don't seem to be engaging but I can get to reverse just fine and the prop moves counter clockwise. Now looking at the clutch dog, the reverse gear side looks toast but the forward looks okay. In my head I think the symptom should be reversed in that the forward should be working the reverse should just rev.

 

[durban]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

there is a reason for that dog being worn like that , i would make some adjustment on the shaft that engages it , ive never done one before but i would try try & work out why it happened then fix that other wise down the road you will end up with the same problem

 

[durban]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

maybe take it off the shaft & turn it around , providing both ends are the same , it should work

 

[durban]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

looking at the photo carefully i see a pin under the spring , now that tells me the pin move in a groove or goes through the shaft , i dont know your set up in the shaft , it could be the pin is worn or groove , just studying the photos , take the spring off & check that , the spring is there to hold the pin in place .i would suspect the pin

 

[boobie]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Don't even think about turning the dog around as it only goes one way. You could have a prob with the oil pump or the shift solenoids.

 

[replayingit]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Hey guys. Thank you for your reply.

Boobie, you are correct. After inspecting the clutchdog and trying to engage the forward gear,the clutchdog would not engage at all so I flipped the clutchdog the other way and then it started engaging but was slipping due to the rounding. After a closer look at the clutchdog the forward side is longer than the reverse side. Also, after removing the prop shaft spring, I notice someone had put an allen bolt inside the spring hole to load the spring but that did not work.

What I've done. I took my die grinder and a few stone bits and put the 3 corners of the clutch dog back to 90 degrees. I ensured the corners were grinded the same length. I put the shaft back in to see if I can engage forward gear and it worked. This will be a temporary solution as I wait for a new forward and reverse gears and a new clutchdog.

I'm not really sure what the history of the boat/motor is since the person I bought it from only had it for a year and it was just sitting in his driveway so I'm going to go ahead and replace the impeller and clean the carbs. Once that is all done, I'm going to fix some of the fiberglass and paint it.

Here is a picture of the boat.

 

[rockyrude]

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Re: 1971 Johnson 85 Shifting problem

Nice boat. You probably have the first clutch dog on one of these motors I've seen go bad. They usually wear from slow shifts into gear, these hydro-electric units usually don't take thier time shifting.