Sync & Link '93 Johnson 25HP, J25RETS, Tiller

New project and just got the shop manual. The first maintenance procedure is to adjust sync & link. First operation is setting cam follower pickup point. Not only was my follower not touch the the cam, the hash marks are behind the follower by about 1". Looks like the cable has to be tightened to advance the follower to line up between the 2-hash marks. It appears the cable does not rotate within the throttle cable bracket, the bracket must rotate on the cable, and the only way to do that is remove the entire bracket and rotate it on the cable, install the bracket, and recheck to be sure my follower is between the hash marks. Seems a bit backward, am I missing something? Thanks guys...

At idle the follower does NOT need to touch the cam.-----How does your motor run ?----Is this motor " new to you " perhaps ?

racerone said:

At idle the follower does NOT need to touch the cam.-----How does your motor run ?----Is this motor " new to you " perhaps ?

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Thanks, just bought the boat a week ago. All boat ramps in the state are closed and could not sea trial. The PO would not let me come to his house. Ran the engine for about 30 seconds dry in a parking lot before exchanging any money. Got it home and it ran Ok on muffs. Is the.. does not need to touch the cam a revision to the original spec? I double checked the FSM and it definitely says it should touch between the marks on the cam. Should the hash marks also be to the right of the follower?

You ran the motor dry ????----Now you need a new impeller !!-----At idle the throttle plates are closed.-----Then idle rpm is controlled by retarding the timing as magneto plate rotates.----Therefor there will be a gap at the roller.-------Do not make any adjustments unless you understand 100% what you are doing !

racerone said:

You ran the motor dry ????----Now you need a new impeller !!-----At idle the throttle plates are closed.-----Then idle rpm is controlled by retarding the timing as magneto plate rotates.----Therefor there will be a gap at the roller.-------Do not make any adjustments unless you understand 100% what you are doing !

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Yea, we're in a pandemic here, ramps are closed, and people are keeping their distance. There was no choice but to run it dry. When buying a 27-yr old outboard it's prudent to change water pump and bunch of other stuff. I have an vague understanding of what I'm doing an I bought a shop manual to be sure. It says the roller should be touching, that's why I asked the question.

Does it say the roller should be touching " ALL THE TIME " or should touch and start opening the throttle at those marks ???-----In post #1 you mention " cam follower pickup point " ------Do you understand " throttle pick up point " on motors like yours , yes , no or not sure at all ?-------Sorry to be so blunt on this.

racerone said:

Does it say the roller should be touching " ALL THE TIME " or should touch and start opening the throttle at those marks ???-----In post #1 you mention " cam follower pickup point " ------Do you understand " throttle pick up point " on motors like yours , yes , no or not sure at all ?-------Sorry to be so blunt on this.

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Yes, correct. It says to install an amplifier to the carb throttle shaft and watch for movement, assuming that's the pickup point. I don't have an amplifier so I just twisted the throttle until I saw the throttle shaft move. It still didn't touch the cam. If the the cam was adjusted to bring the hash marks in alignment to the roller, it may then touch. That's why I asked the original question about adjusting the cable to align the hash marks. No worries about being blunt...

I took more measurements of current link & sync settings on the motor and everything is out of spec. The distance from the throttle cable sleeve to throttle cable bracket specs at 1-3/4", mine is 2-3/8". The throttle lever is suppose to touch the stop on the cyl block at WOT. Mine is about 1/2" from touching. BUT, there is evidence (wear marks, etc) that it did touch at one time. At WOT the carb plate is past horizontal. Everything being out of spec, and seeing indications that it was in spec at one time; leads me to believe this motor was set up to be run on cables and someone converted it to tiller and didn't link & sync correctly. Thoughts?