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98 Johnson Fast Strike shift cable replacement

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Bjsmith919

Regular Contributor
The shift cable broke on my boat yesterday, at least that's what I'm praying it is. The control box moves freely but where it connects back at the motor barely moves, maybe a quarter inch either way. Got one ordered that's supposed to be here Thursday and my question is are they just plug and play or is there going to need to be some adjustments involved? Thanks for any help
 
Checked behind the control box and everything is connected. With me having a hot foot there would be only one cable connected to the control box I'm assuming
 
Yes, with the hot foot being the throttle cable, there should be just the shift cable attached to the control box.

Could be that the inner cable of the shift cable was not secured properly via the clamp arrangement within the control box and came loose... a common happening if the rear clamp set screw wasn't backed out far enough to let the front set screw bend in the inner cable properly to jam it, then tighten the rear set screw to lock it securely.
 
That would be a " snap in " cable.----------Not user serviceable and a new one should be installed.-----------------I would inspect control box internals for damage FIRST.
 
I looked yesterday afternoon and everything looked good to me. When I moved the control box to forward, neutral and reverse I could hear a noise in the back corner of the boat but would only get about a quarter inch of movement at the engine.
 
Moves fine with cable disconnected. Pretty much narrowed it down to the cable, just wondering how hard they are to install and if it involves any adjustments after installed
 
I can remove to cotter pin and take it off the shift lever on the side of the motor and it shifts fine. Just won't shift from control box
 
Ok then try a new cable !----------How / when did this problem show up.-------------Hopefully the control box is not shifted when motor is not running !---------When shifting at the motor you should be turning the propshaft if motor is not running.
 
Last edited:
racerone said:
Ok then try a new cable !----------How / when did this problem show up.-------------Hopefully the control box is not shifted when motor is not running !---------When shifting at the motor you should be turning the propshaft if motor is not running.
Click to expand...

Yes sir, made sure to move prop every time I shifted at motor. I installed a new water pump on it and the directions that come with it said to shift into forward, remove cotter pin and the clevis pin to slide linkage so lower unit would drop. Had to take bottom cowling off to get to all of this and when I reinstalled everything I shifted into forward and reverse before reinstalling bottom cowling. Heard a pop going into reverse and control box would not move the shifter on the motor afterwards.
 
Took control box off and shift cable looks normal and in place on that end also. Gentleman that was helping me said either control box was broken or the shift cable was. When I described how the control box looked on the inside he said it was the shift cable
 
Does any of this make sense or sound right? He has been spot on with everything else he's told me just never hurts to get second and third opinions
 
Got new shift cable installed and I guess you could say it's working. It makes a slight grinding noise going from forward and reverse to neutral and neutral seems to have gotten alot smaller. I can bump the control forward and the prop will engage even when the shifter is still in neutral. What did I do wrong?
 
I don't think my shift shaft is high enough because when I try to go in reverse the shifter will only move about a half inch and hits the shift cable. I'll post a picture of that also
 
Also can someone tell me where the end of 66 goes? When I removed the bottom carb to get the shift shaft back attached is found it laying loose underneath
 
That hose I was asking about broke off the lower main bearing vent is what I was told. One question where is the lower main bearing vent
 
Can anyone help me with the location of the lower main bearing? The end of the #66 hose come off and i have no clue as to where it goes back. Thanks for any info you can provide.
 
The lower main bearing would be at the almost dead center bottom front portion of the power-head. Use a strong flashlight that more so focus's a beam rather than a flood type beam if possible. You may need to remove or shove aside some component to spot the fitting.
 
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