Help with 65′ Evinrude Fisherman 6HP

[fisherman6]

quote T.bell:

quote B-Dittmar:

1965 still has the shock absorber in the gear case and after watching the video That is the problem.

Hmmm interesting, a shock absorber? That looks like a pain to change and even harder to find, marineengines doesn’t carry that part #10,go figure, unfortunately. Just out of curiosity what leads you to believe it’s the shock absorber? Or how can you tell it’s what is bad and causing this? How could it have gone bad and what are the other symptoms of a bad shock absorber?

I don’t remember the specs for length but they are posted on this website in another thread. If it is the culprit to to your problems though, you’ll see damage similar to what I saw in my motor.

It isn’t hard to find or replace. If you don’t understand where it is a or how to get to it, I can post pictures showing what has to be removed. The bearing carrier has to be resealed with a new gasket and sealer once it is removed. I have gotten lucky and had the old gasket to work with sealer, but a new gasket is highly recommended.

-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[t-bell]

quote Fisherman6:

My money says Ben Dittmar’s response is spot on. The shock absorber has been sprung / broken in your lower unit. The shock absorber will grow in length when it breaks and the top of the shock absorber will wear heavily into the bottom of the driveshaft bearing carrier under the water pump. I just finished up a 1960 Fisherman that had a broken shock absorber. The bearing carrier ended up getting replaced because it was badly damaged by the shock. See the pictures below.

The shock absorber will need to be squeezed back together to.its original length and the seam between the halves welded. Once it is welded, use a brass shear pin for the prop instead of the steel one. That will protect the gears from damage should you hit a solud object with the prop.

-Ben

Wowwwwaweeewa! oh man! 😮 I really don’t want to have to deal with that, but if you agree with the other Ben then it’s hard to deny. So the engine will actually be able to run with that part broke or "sprung" as you referred to? It didn’t run like this when I had it going last time?

Did you have to buy a whole new 130$ lower shaft and seal assembly? Or just replace the bearing carrier? Looks like it’s all one piece unfortunately?

What is the shock absorberz original length? Did the one photographed break in two?

[b-dittmar]

quote T.bell:

quote Fisherman6:

My money says Ben Dittmar’s response is spot on. The shock absorber has been sprung / broken in your lower unit. The shock absorber will grow in length when it breaks and the top of the shock absorber will wear heavily into the bottom of the driveshaft bearing carrier under the water pump. I just finished up a 1960 Fisherman that had a broken shock absorber. The bearing carrier ended up getting replaced because it was badly damaged by the shock. See the pictures below.

The shock absorber will need to be squeezed back together to.its original length and the seam between the halves welded. Once it is welded, use a brass shear pin for the prop instead of the steel one. That will protect the gears from damage should you hit a solud object with the prop.

-Ben

quote :

Wowwwwaweeewa! oh man! 😮 I really don’t want to have to deal with that,

but if you agree with the other Ben then it’s hard to deny. So the engine will actually be able to run with that part broke or “sprung” as you referred to? It didn’t run like this when I had it going last time?

Did you have to buy a whole new 130$ lower shaft and seal assembly? Or just replace the bearing carrier? Looks like it’s all one piece unfortunately?

What is the shock absorberz original length? Did the one photographed break in two?

it’s not a big deal, Only takes about the same time as a water impeller. used parts are very easily found for it, it uses the same part’s as all 5.5 and 7.5hp OMC’s.

[fisherman6]

Yes, it will run with that part sprung. It will tend to grow in length as the torque increases. As you are speeding up and the engine builds power, it drags onnthe bearing carrier. It gets hit and starts to.melt the material. It sort of friction welds together and stops the engine. Thyere dissimilar metals so they separate once the friction stops which allows you to restart it and do it all over again.

You may not have to do anything but remove the shock, squeeze it back together in a vise or with a hammer, weld the halves together, and reinstall it. Just replace the gasket under the bearing carrier with some sealant on it and put everything back together. I could have gotten by with my damaged bearing carrier if I had to, but I had a replacement, so I used it. If you want me to, I can find one to get pictures of so you can see how the pieces go together.

The one in my photo did not break in two. The spring inside breaks and the two halves spread apart. Someone here knows the correct length. I do not remember. I just press the halves together until it doesn’t move anymore and weld the seam together. Grind the outside down so it doesn’t drag in the inside of the bore and replace the steel prop drive pin with a brass one.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[t-bell]

quote Fisherman6:

quote T.bell:

quote B-Dittmar:

1965 still has the shock absorber in the gear case and after watching the video That is the problem.

Hmmm interesting, a shock absorber? That looks like a pain to change and even harder to find, marineengines doesn’t carry that part #10,go figure, unfortunately. Just out of curiosity what leads you to believe it’s the shock absorber? Or how can you tell it’s what is bad and causing this? How could it have gone bad and what are the other symptoms of a bad shock absorber?

I don’t remember the specs for length but they are posted on this website in another thread. If it is the culprit to to your problems though, you’ll see damage similar to what I saw in my motor.

It isn’t hard to find or replace. If you don’t understand where it is a or how to get to it, I can post pictures showing what has to be removed. The bearing carrier has to be resealed with a new gasket and sealer once it is removed. I have gotten lucky and had the old gasket to work with sealer, but a new gasket is highly recommended.

-Ben

Thanks Ben!
I’ll search for them and see what I can come up with then. Interesting, well I will probably have to pop it off and check it out I suppose. But still out of curiosity what, if any, are the signs or symptoms of the shock absorber being broke? I just don’t want to go tearing it apart to find it’s something else so any explanation would be much appreciated!
Also yes some pictures and a bit of a walk thru would be tremendously helpful!

[t-bell]

quote Fisherman6:

Yes, it will run with that part sprung. It will tend to grow in length as the torque increases. As you are speeding up and the engine builds power, it drags onnthe bearing carrier. It gets hit and starts to.melt the material. It sort of friction welds together and stops the engine. Thyere dissimilar metals so they separate once the friction stops which allows you to restart it and do it all over again.

You may not have to do anything but remove the shock, squeeze it back together in a vise or with a hammer, weld the halves together, and reinstall it. Just replace the gasket under the bearing carrier with some sealant on it and put everything back together. I could have gotten by with my damaged bearing carrier if I had to, but I had a replacement, so I used it. If you want me to, I can find one to get pictures of so you can see how the pieces go together.

The one in my photo did not break in two. The spring inside breaks and the two halves spread apart. Someone here knows the correct length. I do not remember. I just press the halves together until it doesn’t move anymore and weld the seam together. Grind the outside down so it doesn’t drag in the inside of the bore and replace the steel prop drive pin with a brass one.
-Ben

Hmmm indeed I would have figured it wouldn’t run, interesting, well y’all know much more about it than myself so my next question is, I am immediately able to restart the engine and go again? Does that change anything or no?

I suppose I won’t know until I take it apart to find out. If you could some pictures would be a very helpful reference as to what a good one looks like verse a bad one.

So if the spring inside breaks does it need to be replaced or is it even replaceable? What’s the purpose of the spring? Where did you find the brass prop drive pin a boat repair shop or online?

[crosbyman]

pics fyi available at boat info Johnson bible manual

http://162.144.28.33/lib/johnson/manual … on.html#/0

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[aquasonic]

Press the shock absorber down to exactly 6-11/16". If it measures longer than that, then it is sprung or broken. In my experience, if the shock is broken, then there is a lot of resistance when roping over the motor, and I didn’t see that on the video. If you take it apart, as others mentioned, the length of the shock and the evidence of damage to the upper bearing housing will tell for sure.

On second thought. I did have a CD-15 that had a sprung not broken shock. It still showed the upper bearing housing damage and was elongated. That one was not especially hard to rope over, so that must have been the scenario that Ben described where the spring is semi-functional.

[neps989]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JOHNSON-EVINRU … Ib&vxp=mtr
Is this what you need?

[fisherman6]

quote T.bell:

So if the spring inside breaks does it need to be replaced or is it even replaceable? What’s the purpose of the spring? Where did you find the brass prop drive pin a boat repair shop or online?

The spring inside is not available as a replacement. The entire shock absorber assembly would be replaced. I find many of them over the course of many years of use have become unreliable. In my opinion any used shock absorber for these motors is a bit of a crap shoot. If I am working on one of these motors and there is the slightest evidence of wear on the top of the shock or the bottom of the bearing carrier, that shock gets squeezed and welded. The drive pin gets replaced with brass to protect the gears, and the reliabilty problem becomes a non-issue.

The idea of the shock absorber is to be able to wind up if the prop hits a log or rock or something and take the shock load off the gearcase. Once the obstacle is cleared, the spring unwinds and you keep going. The problem is after this happens a number of times or hard enough they eventually spring or break. Then you end up with bigger problems. Once it is welded it effectively becomes a solid driveshaft with nothing to protect the gearcase from shock loading. That is the reason for going to a softer brass pin instead of the steel drive pin. If you hit something and shear the pin, you now have to replace the pin for the motor to push the boat again, but it saves the gears and it won’t destroy the bearing carrier like a bad shock. Just remember to carry a couple extra pins on the motor somewhere.

You can buy brass shear pins. I just buy a length of brass rod and cut them to length. It’s a lot less expensive and you can always make a few spares if you are somwhere you are shearing pins often.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

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