1998 Johnson (200 HP) shifting issues

Good Morning All,
after replacing the impeller and resealing my lower unit I’m having trouble getting the motor in to gear, I understand the shift rod height has to do with this issue as before I took the unit apart I did not the problem, by the book it states to screw the rod in to the shifter 4 turns and then adjust from there, but in order for the shifter rod to reach the shifter link in its original position I had to un screw the rod from the shifter placing it at 3 turns, it seems like I need to go one more turn in order to shift properly, but I feel that at two turns the rod has no enough meat for the rod to stay in the shifter…any ideas?

You are totally misled.-----The shift rod is adjusted to a particular length !!--------You adjust to that dimension with the lower unit in neutral.----Then when you install it you move the shift lever on the motor to line it up for the pin.-------You do not turn the shift rod after it has been set because it looks wrong to you.----Factory manual is in your future.-----It is always possible that you have the wrong shift rod for your model as well.-------Without seeing the parts on my bench it is hard to tell.

all right, I’ll check the book to make sure I did not understand this wrong, but in case the the rod it at the right height, how do you adjust the shifter lever? by means of the wing nut on the shifter cable?

??-----First you disconnect the shift cable.-----Install the lower unit.------Move lever on the motor so you can put the pin in.-------Now manually shift motor to neutral.-----Adjust black plastic thingy ( factory cable ) to suit.

Throw that Seloc crap away.....

This is from shop manual. Because adjustment is limited by thread pitch you do not need a caliper to set it, the exact measurement can be off by 1/2 a turn. I made a gauge by carefully laying out the dimensions on a peace of hardwood.

That is from a aftermarket manual baddog and he has a 90° motor.....correct height is 21-15/16 +/- 1/32

You're right, it is, it actually came with the diagnostic software that I bought on e-bay and I think came from Croatia but the software works. After I posted it I looked at it and realized it didn't do a good job spelling out the engines it covered. I do have the official factory manual and prefer it but I have found that the aftermarket manual provides more inside into how things work than the factory manual does which helps me diagnosing my 2000 225 Ficht that i refuse to give up on. (I'm learning a lot, mostly the hard way) +/- 1/32" is a 1/16" range which can be measured with an accurate tape measure. I resealed my lower unit in the spring and counted how many turns unscrewed the shift linkage. I counted the turns putting it back in and checked it with the fixture I made and found it to be right on.