Question and Concern about my Johnson OB

" I was running UP a canal the

" I was running UP a canal the other day and they were pulling water, HARD. Anyway, as I was going AGAINST the current, my little 70 model 9.5 felt and sounded like it jumped out of gear. I immediately backed off the throttle and checked. Nope. The shift lever was engaged as if the motor was still in gear. I pushed it back to neutral, then back into forward. It geared up and I was off again. Then it did the same thing again, and I did the same thing again. This time though, after I re-engaged the gears, I just eased the boat forward at a slower speed and it did fine. Now my questions and concerns.

What happened? (smile) Could the "force" of the current against the WOT push the gears and force the motor to jump back to neutral?

Did I do any damage to the lower unit or gears (Once out of the canal, the motor pushed fine without any noise such as grinding, clunking, or anything out of the ordinary)?

Is there some kind of built-in mechanism to prevent the force caused by the current against the propeller from causing gear damage (for example, pushing the engine to neutral rather than busting a gear)?

I have just never heard of this condition nor have ever had such a thing happen to me before. Any thoughts, tips, sugestions, etc. are very welcome and appreciated. "

"Alabama.... Since you made no

"Alabama.... Since you made no mention of it, I assume that you did not encounter a situation where it felt like you hit something, which would be a scenario of having the engine jump in and out of gear. The way you describe the situation is that the engine simply lost the power to propel the boat until you lowered the rpms.

This would have me suspect one of two possible causes. First.... that canal consisted of rough water (unlikely) which caused the prop to raise out of the water and cavitate (draw air and race like mad!). Second.... (and most likely) the propeller hub is failing and due to the extreme pressure of going against a hard heavy tide, the hub slipped which allows the bronze hub to continue turning with the prop shaft but the aluminum prop simply stops revolving (also racing like mad). This would allow the prop to operate somewhat normally at low rpms, but slip when high rpms are applied. Let me know what you find.

Joe (30+ Years With OMC)"

Speed and load on the motor r

Speed and load on the motor really do not change in a current ( speed over the bottom is affected). It would be wise to check the oil in the bottom end. Look for bits of bronze in the oil. The 9.5 and earlier 10 hp motors had a cast in place bushing and a sintered bearing on the forward gear. The lower unit should be torn down for an inspection before it is too late to make reasonable cost repairs.