RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

[Stevewatr]

Hello. I am trying to drop the lower unit on this motor, and am having trouble. I removed the bolt that releases the lower shift rod from the upper. Then I dropped out the 6 bolts from the botom side, but the unit will not drop down. Should the drive shaft just slide out? Or am I missing something.........big.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Hello. I am trying to drop the lower unit on this motor, and am having trouble. I removed the bolt that releases the lower shift rod from the upper. Then I dropped out the 6 bolts from the botom side, but the unit will not drop down. Should the drive shaft just slide out? Or am I missing something.........big.

Did you take out the bolt under the fin ???
Welcome to iboats.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

I did not see one large bolt, but I will go back and look at it today. Thanks for the fast reply. You would not happen to have a parts list for this lower unit would you? The website only goes back to '68. Thanks again for the tip about the bolt.

 

[lindy46]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

I did not see one large bolt, but I will go back and look at it today. Thanks for the fast reply. You would not happen to have a parts list for this lower unit would you? The website only goes back to '68. Thanks again for the tip about the bolt.

You have to remove the rear exhaust housing cover to get to the big bolt at the rear which goes through from the top.

 

[F_R]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

I did not see one large bolt, but I will go back and look at it today. Thanks for the fast reply. You would not happen to have a parts list for this lower unit would you? The website only goes back to '68. Thanks again for the tip about the bolt.

Nah, that answer doesn't get it. You have to remove the rear cover off the midsection (whole bunch of screws). After you get that off, you will see the 7th bolt holding the lower unit on. It is the same in that respect as the 1968, if you found that picture.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Awesome job folks. The key bit of info was that the bolt was behind that large cover . My thanks again. Tore it down today, found what I expected, a toasted clutch dog, and some marginal damage to the forward gear. My plan is to switch the gears, so the better of the two is in the forward position, and replace the clutch dog. Any comments on this plan of action are welcome. The oil I drained off did not appear to be contaminated with water, it was grayish in color, but uniform color, and consistency, with no foaminess. It DID wreak to high heaven, I never smelt oil like that before! The water pump impeller must have been changed fairly recently because it showed no signs of rot, or brittleness, and the fins were not stuck in a permanent curved state, they had spring to them. All seals also looked to be functioning, even the o rings looked decent. The former owner said it was "serviced" at a marina, a few years back, but he could not elaborate.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Well, here how my day went. I noticed that the reverse gear, and forward gear did look a little different from each other. When I looked up a 1968 model, it shows the reverse gear has a seperate bushing, a different part number, and is quite a bit cheaper. The forward gear has a bushing press fit into it, and is not the same length. The actual gears did appear identical, so I used a press to push out the bushing from the forward gear, and pressed it into the reverse gear, then slipped the removable bushing into the forward gear, allowing me to swap them. Then I installed the clutch dog with the better side facing the "new" forward gear. I reassembled everything, installed new lube, and reinstalled it on the motor. Reverse worked fine, but upon snapping it into forward, there was a terrible noise, and I found the shift lever keeps wanting to pop towards neutral, whats worse, is I found foamy oil/water mixture in the area around the water pump when I dropped the drive to bring it back to my shop. Have not torn into it yet, but fear I may have screwed it up royally.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Tore the stern drive down today, noted the following. The new lube I just installed came out gray in color. It just went in new the color yellow, like vegetable oil. I'm guessing water is getting in from somewhere. As for the dog, and gears, they do not look any worse then they did when I tore it down the first time. I guess I'll swap the bushings back the way they were, so I can swap the gears back the way I had them. I do not see what keeps the dog engaged once shifted into gear. There is a detent lever up near the powerhead, but is that what keeps it engaged?? The parts manual for the 1968 RDS-30A shows two small steel balls and a spring listed in the parts section for the gearcase, but mine did not have those items. Were they not used in the RDS-27m??? Or were they lost by a previous person, and never replaced? I'm thinking they were never there. After all, this boat was working decent when I first bought it, as long as I babied it. Hope somebody still reads this thread.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Not sure if anybody is still reading this thread, but in case they are, and are looking for a clutch dog for this motor, I bought one from a guy on Ebay for $20, and it is NOS! He is only 1-1/2 hours from me. Drove there tonight, and turns out he has like 5 of them, and a lot of other parts. He sold me almost every seal, and oring I need to make my gearcase water tight, and gave me good advice on how to remove the bushing on the shift shaft so I can get to the oring behind it. Just wish he had a NOS forward gear for cheap $$$.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

I'm reading it!

Wow, good score on the NOS parts. Whereabouts are you/he located?

I would have thought that the reversing the gears would have worked. That's odd. I have a few 40's in the shed but have never taken the LU's apart. I find those engines are too big too work on. I only like working on engines I can easily move around.

 

[Stevewatr]

Re: RDS-27M 1965 Johnson 40 need help

Just realized you asked where I am located. Figured I'd post an answer/followup.......better late than never. I am located in Massachusetts. The guy on Ebay I bought the clutch dog from is in Athol, MA. Turns out, it was his wife that posted them to help clear out some old inventory. I got the feeling the old guy I met when I went to pick up the part would have preferred she did not sell them for $20. Every other part I inquired about, he pulled out the pricing fiche, and told me the price, in other words, he wanted list price for everything.......did not matter if it had been sitting in his store for thirty years, or thirty days. As for the old Johnson, I finished the lower gearcase rebuild this spring. Spent the winter trolling Ebay for NOS parts. Scored a complete gear set for $150, a prop shaft for $75, and picked up a seal kit from NAPA for about $30. It had most of the seals, orings, and nylon washers. The few seals it did not have, I bought from the aforementioned dealer. My bearings were good, so except for them, and the housing my gearcase is rebuilt, and shifting great. Still ironing out some minor kinks with the fuel delivery system, and snapped a cable guide this past weekend, but generally getting better all the time. Found the cable guide, a $5 peice of plastic, on this website for about $5, hoping it gets here for the weekend.
Thanks to all who helped out on this thread.