Replacing the clutch dog on a 1957 35 hp johnson

[dave-bernard]

to check for loose upper linkage just take the side plate off hold the coupler and move the shift handle to see if it has play.

[olcah]

Aquaholic’s advice is the way to go with this. You need someone familiar with this task to look things over and get you on the right track!

[fleetwin]

At this point, I would question the ebay seller and your mechanic as well….Perhaps the seller sold a faulty gearcase, but I find it hard to believe your mechanic did not figure out the gearcase was NG before collecting his money and returning the rig for you to discover it does not work properly.
There are a few possibilities here:
the ebay seller sold you a faulty gearcase
Is you engine a long shaft? Perhaps you were sold a 15" gearcase and the driveshaft is too short, did you notice if it was pumping water while you tried to use it? The crankshaft splines could be wiped out as well…
Your mechanic failed to connect the shift linkage properly and adjust the shift cables/linkage properly. Did you try to shift the engine by hand with the cable disconnected?
There is a problem with the engine’s shift linkage/bellcrank/handle, follow Frank’s advice for checking this out
Perhaps you have a sheared drive pin?
Perhaps the rubber hub in your propeller is NG.

Have you contacted the ebay seller? Is he willing to take the unit back/refund you? Again, at this point, I don’t have much confidence in either the seller or your mechanic….

[amuller]

quote dobber:

well i had my mechanic take apart the lower unit and reverse the gears, that did not work
then i ordered a whole new /used lower unit from eBay, the seller had an excellent rating and said the lower unit was taken apart and is in perfect condition. well i had my mechanic put it on, i got in the water and the boat would not go into gear at all so the mechanic said that the lower unit was not good so now i ordered a new gear set of eBay and my mechanic is going to use the new gears and the original unit and hopefully after 6 months i will be able to get out on the river,. my mechanic said there is only one way to install the lower unit so he must have done it right

It shouldn’t be that hard! I would wonder if something is wrong externally with your shifting setup. By now you should have plenty of parts to make a good one (except maybe for seals). Suggest taking the original apart fully and inspecting all. It should be possible to determine by inspection whether the gears and dog clutch are serviceable. Take closeups and post here. Good idea to get help in putting it together, especially if you replace the pinion and shift seals (good idea!).

My own limited experience says its not a good idea to use a crappy, rusty old shift cable even if it seems to work. You need free action and full travel to keep the shifting parts healthy.

[jeffersonsharp]

I had the same issue on mine. I was able to get it close to fixed by adjusting the shift handle but it still popped out. I then checked the shift lever for play as stated earlier in this thread by gripping the shift rod through the linkage cover and wiggling the handle. Having found play I pulled the power head and the bell crank at the top of the shift rod was loose. I tightened that and at the same time, switched the gearcases on my motors (twins) in order to see if the problem was in the shifter or grearcase. I was finally able to run on both engines by holding the one in gear. I think I just need to adjust the shift levers and cables at this point but winter came and that’s were I stopped. Anyway my advice would be to follow others advice that has been given and check for lever play. If found you will have to pull the power head. It’s not hard but I do suggest pulling the carb first. I didn’t because it meant pulling the starter and generator on my engine. It’s doable with the carb in place but a real PITA.

[labrador-guy]

All transmissions or gear case’s should shift and turn properly on the bench before you ever put them into service. When I was a young dog I had an immense problem with a heavy foot! Three speed or four speed mixers just would not hold up. I could take’em apart and put’em back together just not quite right. The old dog came by and to check on me, showed me how to turn the drive shaft on the bench move the gears. Worked perfect if it was put together right. If it wasn’t the old guy would say "RTFM dummy! Do it again!" I remember that like it was yesterday! (read the f-=* manual) good advice for whatever you are working on!

dale

[jeffersonsharp]

Of course a gearcase needs to be checked before put into service but, the thing is, just because it turns and shifts by hand on the bench doesn’t mean it will function properly when the torque of the engine and prop is applied. That was the case with my situation, so I have to cut this mechanic a little slack. Especially if he only had the gearcase.

[dobber]

Okay, I believe there is play in the lever box by the steering wheel. There Re some screws coming out of the box, do I adjust these.

[joecb]

Not shifting at all !!! fork pivot screw mis- aligned. That darn little Philips head screw
.

Joe B

[dobber]

well more bad news, i took the all 3 gear sets and 2 lower units to a master technician in sausilito. he assured me that he put a lower unit back together that will work. he said he did not have time to do the shift linkage adjustment until next friday.. had my other mechanic put the lower unit in and we are sure we adjusted the linkage right. i get out on the water out of the marina and she is running beautifully for about a half mile . i was so happy after 6 months of trying to get this fixed. then all of a sudden it started slowing down and shaking and you could just feel something was going wrong, all of a sudden when I’ve got it in forward and 3 quarter throttle , the whole damm boat stops and the engine kicked up out of the water. WTF???? NOW WHAT?. we were able to re start the engine and crawl back to the harbor. basically the same problem i have been dealing with, as soon as i give it a lot of gas, something bad happens. it used to kick or spit or cough, now it just plain shakes violently and abruptly stops. is it slipping out of gear, an old timer told mr that if the motor kicked out of the water it was in reverse?. i am now over $2800 into this problem and i still can’t get on the water. i remember one of the last times it took it out before all the problems, i hit a goose dead on at full throttle, did that mess something with the linkage somewhere in the engine?

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