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Honda BF40 Shift Rod Help

M

marvintheminnow

New member
was out on the river yesterday and my impeller did not seem to be producing its normal "pee" stream. shut the motor down and turned it back on and it seemed to be producing a better "pee" stream but would not go in and out of gear.

ended up getting towed back to the dock and discovered what I believe to be my shift rod out of whack or disconnected.

here is a photo of what appears to be 2 rods that I think need to be connected.

the goofy thing is that at first i adjusted the upper (long nut) up the rod and the motor was shifting in and out of gear and spinning the prop. but in the photo it looks like tthe shift rod is completly disconnected.

your help is much appreciated.
 

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The good news is that you still have both nuts. If may have been shifting by the rod catching on the nuts.

First thing to do is to put the gear case in reverse. You will need a needle nose pliers....turn the prop by hand as you pry the lower shift rod down. The prop should finally lock in gear.

Then remove the upper nut (longer nut) from the lower shift rod.

Once removed, then screw it onto the upper shift rod. Note that there should be a mark on the nut indicating "up". Screw this on until the lower part of the nut if above the end of the lower shift rod.

Now rotate the lower nut so that the top of the nut is about .3 inches from the top of the shift rod.

Make sure that the shift lever is also now in reverse. You may have to screw the upper nut up a little so that it does not push down against the lower shift rod.

Once all the above is in place...screw the top nut down onto the lower shift rod. Do not allow the lower nut to move. Screw the top nut down until it touches the bottom nut. Then tighten the two nuts together.

Check you shifting. Have someone rotate the prop as you shift (so you do not break any of the plastic linkages).

Mike
 
I ended up after trial and error doing just about exactly as you posted and everything seems to be back to normal again. I need to remember to have someone spinning the prop next time im shifting with the motor off though. I would hate to break one of those shift levers over something so simple.

I am however noticing a slight grind as im shifting into reverse, but I think it was always doing this. Is there any adjustment I can make to eliminate the grinding?

thank you for the help & happy boating.
 
note: the lower nut is still almost to the bottom of the threads on the lower shift rod as shown in the photo. Should I move this up to the .3 inches from the top of the shift rod?
 
Yes, that is what the manual says to do.

There normally is some clunking going into gear. Just make sure the engine has idled down and shift smartly into gear. Not too fast and certainly not too slow.

Mike
 
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