At the risk of asking the question with the obvious answer…here goes.
I have just finished a 1956 Johnson (QD-17). Found in a pile of dirt and leaves so no history on the condition of the motor when found. Part of the work included a complete lower unit reseal.
Upon completion of the work and prior to test running, everything seemed normal relative to shifting. (the gear set looked fine and aside from seals all looked normal and went back together normally.
The transmission would shift F-N-R just fine while pulling the starting rope.
The engine fired up on 3rd pull and adjusted into a nice slow idle and excellent throttle response.
But…..when shifting into R the engine shifted fine but stayed in R when moving the lever back to N. Then….when moving the lever to F, it went into N.
I went back to the brass couple to positively ensure it was connected to the shift rod correctly. Again, on the test stand and not running the trans shifted correctly through the F-N-R and back again.
Back under power the problem reappeared. Never having to adjust the cam (376307) on the shift lever on any of my other QDs I overlooked it at first. Then, I loosened the machine screw and holding nut and moved the cam back and forth in the aft set of the two holes. I could observe through the removal plate how it changed the throw in the shift rod when the cam was moved in relation to the handle.
Bottom line, I put it back where it was and everything seemed to work fine before running. This time everything worked fine under power. So I’m not going to fix what ain’t broke but I sure am curious as to why the cam and what I did to “fix” the problem. Why is the cam there?
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