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Follow up question for Joe Reeves

R

Ronald Selleck

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" Hello Joe,
I have been purs

" Hello Joe,
I have been pursuing your theory that my '72 Johnson 50 hp will not shift in water because the green wire is grounding to the water. I found when I took the lower unit off that the 5/8" countersunk bolt just in front of the trim tab was missing and that there was no sealer on the exhaust housing and gearcase surfaces, in contrast to what the manual specifies. There was plenty of water in there where the shift connector wire runs above the lower unit. Water is not supposed to run freely in that area is it? Seems like it would take a really well sealed circuit to withstand that much water. Could this be the answer to my riddle of why it would shift on the flushette and not when submerged? If so, do I replace the wire and the bolt and seal it up to cure the problem? "
 
"Ronald..... That area has acc

"Ronald..... That area has access to quite a bit of water. Even when just sitting in the water, the water level is quite high and is surrounding that electric shift cable. Bottom line is that water shouldn't bother the cable unless something is wrong with it.

The missing 5/8" bolt wouldn't cause that problem either.

As for the metal to metal surface between the lower unit and the exhaust housing, there is no gasket there, and many mechanics do not bother to put any sealer there as the sealer has no effect one way or the other on the shifting setup. The sealer is simply to keep the water from shooting out of that area, especially when running on a flushette. The water shooting out doesn't hurt anything.... just doesn't look nice.

I always use Sealer 1000 on those surfaces. I'd suggest that you examine that shift cable quite closely as one pin hole to the inner metal wire of either of those electrical wires within that cable would interfere with the shifting when submerged.

Joe
"
 
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