1987 40hp Johnson Forword Problem

[Big Fish Hunter247]

This weekend my dad and I were out fishing and we went to come in and suddenly we lost foreword gear? I just rebuilt the lower unit with all new gears and everything. is there adjustent I missed? I know in order to get everything out I had to take the shift rod out is there a specific setting for that? and if I'm not mistaken shouldnt the reverse go out before forword does? isnt that a safety feture?

Big Fish Hunter247

[broken_line]

like it all of a sudden kicked in nueutral?? look at the shift cables, they are prone to break also push it with force in forward and try to trun the prop it should be in gear. if its not you could have broken the the dogs off listen for anything out of the ordanary.. does it work in reverse?

[boatfixer]

Hopefully you refilled it with oil after the rebuild.

Have you looked to see if the shaft is moving when you shift? Is it stuck in reverse or will it move from reverse to neutral? Maybe the shift rod pin came out and is now disconnected.

The measurment should be 15 29/32" from the top of the housing to the center of the hole in the shift shaft for a standard length shaft.

There is no safety feature in regards to which gear will fail first.

[Big Fish Hunter247]

Yes I refilled it with new gear lube when I was done rebuilding it. I looked to see if it was moveing and it was. It goes into reverse just fine but no forword. I will check the mesurements for that shift rod I might have put it in too far or not far enough I dunno

Big Fish Hunter247

[boatfixer]

Have you drained the oil out and looked for chips, filings, etc?

If you threaded it in too far, then yes that can cause your situation. It needs to lift the shifter detent up for forward and down for reverse. Have you tried removing the shift cable and manually shifting to see if it will go into forward? (Do this with the engine off)

[Big Fish Hunter247]

No I havent checked it for shaveings yet I didnt know there was a mesurement for the shift rod I just put it back to where I thought it should be. I will try all of this when I go back to the cabin this next weekend.

[boatfixer]

It did work for a while though? Then quit? Were there any other symptoms leading up to this?

[Big Fish Hunter247]

yes it worked for awhile I rebuilt it 3 weeks ago and it just did it this weekend. I havent heard anything out of the ordenary. Your explination of the shift rod makes sense I might have threaded it in too far

[boatfixer]

Lets hope so!

[Big Fish Hunter247]

me too them gears are not cheap the previous owner liked to hear them grind when he put it in gear so thats whyI had to rebuild it the dogs on the forword gear were rounded off

Big Fish Hunter247

[boatfixer]

Yep, you're right, get into gear!