Hi...I recently removed the lower leg of my 88 johnson 140 to replace the water pump impeller. That was the easy part...30 mins of work and the impeller is changed and ready to install the lower unit... that's where trouble hit. I get the water tube lined up, and slide it up only to be stopped by the shift shaft not finding it's way through the curved route it must take to get into the upper unit. Looking up the shift shaft tube with a flashlight, I can see where it is stopping....what can I do to get it to slide into place? I've checked the shift height from neutral and it is bang on 21-15/16". The shaft rotates freely so I've tried holding it straight with needle nose pliers and it still won't go. This is not an issue of the shifter being in the correct position...The issue is getting the shift shaft to go through the hole into the upper unit. It is stopping before the drive shaft splines can even start mating. Please help!!!
New at this myself....but i just rotated my shaft 90degrees. Easy to spin to correct location after bolts started in lower unit. I used long needle nose pliers on outside just below powerhead.
Thanks for your reply. So you are saying the shaft should be pointed back when inserting, then once it's close enough to start bolts, use the needle nose to turn the shaft correct orientation. I have attached a couple sketches of what I'm seeing. After looking at the photos, does this seem like the same problem you had? I will definitely give it a try. The shift shaft must take a bend in the tube at the top. The very top area where the bend is looks like metal and the shaft seems to be binding at the very top and can't make the bend at the top to get fully into the upper unit. In the second sketch below, you can see the view from looking straight up the shift shaft tube. The hole where the shaft enters the engine area is at the top. I have tried greasing the snot out of the tip of the shift shaft to try and help it slide easier in the bend but no luck.
I just had the same problem with a 1989 120. I got a bolt about an 1 1/4" longer than the rear bolt under the trim tab. Pushed the lower unit up until it stopped then put this bolt in: this held the lower unit in place. Once the lower unit was held by the longer bolt I began to tighten that while lifting slightly on the front of the lower unit. It just slid right in. You can also remove the spark plugs and rotate the flywheel at the same time or put the lower unit in gear and rotate the prop. Once the shaft is through the hole you can set your shifter to whatever gear you put it in.
I was told it's one of those jobs that can go very easy or take a lot of messing around with. Keep at it, suddenly the lower unit will just go on and you won't know just what you did.
Wow...so simple...after reading the replies carefully, a light came on. I had no idea the shift shaft is exposed between the tiller arm and upper unit! So I went ahead and lifted the lower unit until it stopped then clamped it in place with woodworking clamps and used a long screw driver to push the shaft forward into the hole leading to the upper unit then presto! I turned the prop which indexed the drive shaft splines and bolted it up. Perfect! I filled up the gear case with gear oil and fired up the engine. Tested that forward, neutral, and reverse work as they are supposed do and all is well. Thanks so much for your support and tips. For anybody stuck with this problem reading this post in the future, see the attached photos of where the shift shaft can be seen and accessed between the tiller arm and upper unit. And lucky me, I didn't even have to take the lower cowling off!
Alright so I put it in the lake today for a real test. Started and idled fine and water flowing just fine so the water pump change was successful.
However...upon putting it into forward I hear a clunk and you can feel it through the whole boat. Getting to plane it may or may not make the loud clunk again. Going into reverse is fine, but after reversing then shifting to neutral it sometimes stays in reverse and I have to put the throttle just slightly into forward to get it back to neutral. Obviously there is a problem with either the shift shaft height or shifter cable. I do remember that the shift shaft was a little big out of alignment when I reinstalled the lower unit...I had to put the throttle slightly in forward to get the hole of the shift shaft to line up with the hole of the retaining screw. I should have realized this is not right and dealt with it at that time. Anyway I did have the shift shaft in reverse and the throttle in reverse when I reinstalled the lower. I also made myself a shift shaft height measuring tool and verified the correct height before re installing the lower unit.
Does it sound like I will have to pull the lower unit and re set the shift shaft height or is this something that can be adjusted on the shift cable so I don't have to yank the lower unit again? If pulling the lower I'm thinking I can have the throttle in reverse and give the shift shaft a few spins then reinstall, check alignment....If off take lower off again then adjust a couple more spins....keep doing this until the hole on the shift shaft is exactly lined up with the hole where the retaining screw goes in. Think that approach might work as well?
All my thoughts aside. .. what do you think will work best?
