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Help - 1994 Johnson 115 2 stroke - Sticky neutral??

l0newolf

New member
Hi guys,

My first post.

I have a 1994 Johnson 115 which i have only owned for a few months now. Ive noticed its starting to get quite tricky moving it into neutral. Sometimes ill have to go into reverse, then up into neutral. Sometimes i have to jiggle it a bit before it actually goes into neutral. Once i get it in neutral, it sounds like the motor revs up quite a bit, as soon as i put it into gear it settles down.
This is while ive been boating around on and off for the last hour. The first start of the trip is as expected, i need to give it a bit of throttle but then it settles down once the motor is warm.

Im not sure if its related, but i hear every so often when i do get it into neutral it sounds like its sitting half way between neutral and in gear. Its a sound thats hard to explain, almost like its not fully out of gear. This could be my problem??

Can anyone shed some light on my potential problem, or am i being paranoid?

Cheers

Rico
 
Thanks haffiman37.
I do recall the previous owner saying they had to take the motor off the do some hull repairs. Could it be that they didnt reconnect it properly?
 
(Centering Shift Cable)
(J. Reeves)

When all is as it should be, the proper method to adjust the shift cable is to disconnect the cable from the engine. Move the shift linkage on the engine to find the center of the play in neutral, and when found, leave it centered.

Now, grab the end of the shift cable sleeve, push and pull it to find the center of the play there, and center that play.

Adjust the trunion on the threaded portion of the shift cable so that the centered play of the cable lines up with the centered play of the engine's shift linkage. Install and lock the shift cable with the retaining clamp in that position. That's it.
 
You will want to remove the cable from the engine and then try and move the control at the helm. If the control moves easily after the cable is disconnected, the shift linkage on the engine needs attention. If the control is still difficult to move after the cable is disconnected, then it's time to replace the cables.
 
Tricky getting it into neutral, and racing once you do sounds to me like your idle speed may be too high. You should probably check that too.
 
So i found last night that the nut that holds the shift cable onto the motor had come off. (shouldve checked this first). Luckily it was still sitting in the bottom of the housing just under it. The shift cable was still on the motor though, but would flex when you change gear.
Putting the nut back on makes little difference, but ive found the shift clicks into neutral okay, but needs another tap back (when moving from forward to neutral) from the remote control to inch it that little bit more. I tested it by turning the prop, and could hear a ticking sound coming from the back of the prop/lower unit. Once i tapped the remote control back after the click into neutral, the ticking stopped. Is this normal? Or am i just being picky. I will still need to get the idle speed adjusted too though i think.
 
remove cable at the motor----------------then find the center of nuetral ( lever on the motor straight up and down )--------------then adjust cable and re-attach.
 
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Correctly adjusting the shift cable as instructed is very important. If the engine is run for any appreciable length of time without taking care of that issue the clutch and gears in the lower unit could be damaged.
 
You guys are good. I adjusted the shift cable and it moves into neutral perfect!!! I will take it into a mechanic to adjust the high idle. Took it out for a test today and after motoring around, when i put it into neutral the rpm sits between 700 and 1100. Does anyone know what a normal or expected level is? I had a friend with his boat out aswell, and his idleing was really quiet.
 
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