Seal Damage

[CaptainPuget]

On my last boating trip I had a harbor seal pop up in front of me and I hit the thing at about 35 mph. The engine over-reved like it spun a prop or jumped out of gear. The controls jammed temporally and it took me several seconds to get the controls to neutral and bring the RPM down. I raised the engine and inspected the lower end. One prop blade was slightly bent but there didn't appear to be any other damage. Everything appears to work OK in forward but when I put it in reverse all I get is a clunking noise like the dog is not fully engaging the reverse gear. When I got it home I pulled the lower end plug and checked the lube for metal bits but found nothing. Still won't go in reverse. <br /><br />Could I have blown out the reverse gear or the reverse side of the dog? That makes no sense to me since the forward gear was engaged at the time of the collision. What should I check next?<br /><br />1987 - Johnson 110hp.

 

[ob]

Re: Seal Damage

CaptainPuget,Good description of incedent.The only thing that I can think of is to disconnect the shift cable under the engine cover and see if you can manually shift into reverse by using the shift arm.If not your problem sounds like it is in the lower unit gearcase.

 

[CaptainPuget]

Re: Seal Damage

Thanks OB. I did just what you suggested and it shifted fine manually. I reconnected and adjusted the cable and it's now working via the controls. I don't know how the collision could have affected this adjustment but it was an easy enough fix.

 

[ob]

Re: Seal Damage

I'm glad to hear your problem worked out.I think maybe the impact led to shift cable feedback and possibly stretched or pulled the cable from its mounting position.