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Is it Okay to Lift the Boat by the Shift Rod?

jasonWA

jasonWA

New member
Hi folks... New to the forum and to boating. It's going to be evident:

I've got a new to me 18ft Bayliner with an '89 100HP Evinrude E100STLCEM. Running it in the driveway I noted a leaky base gasket, so I decided to replace it. I thought I had everything out of the way when I started to lift the powerhead, but in fact I'd failed to unhook the shift rod. In fairness, it's buried pretty deep in there. I've never used this engine hoist before either, but it felt like I was lifting harder than I should need to, when I realized I was lifting the back of the boat off of the trailer. Set it back down... regroup... figure out how to unhook the shift rod... lifts off much more easily. I wonder to myself how much havoc I could have caused at the other end of that rod. It's probably not meant to be used as a lifting point :)

I put everything back together and put the boat in the water and find that I can't get it in forward gear. If I disconnect the cable, I can do it by hand. The thumbwheel / trunnion / cable adjustment was already adjusted all the way forward when I got the boat. Before I worked on it it seemed to shift okay, but not anymore. As a quick fix, I pulled the trunnion out of the cradle and wrapped some electrical tape around the cable assembly to the rear of the trunnion where I needed it to grab in order to get it into forward gear (made the cable "shorter'). It shifts fine now, but that's a hillbilly fix if ever I saw one.

Here's how it looked before I started working on it:

20180722_112954_small.jpg

As you can hopefully see, the cable adjustment is all the way forward, and the shift lever is at about 30 degrees forward of vertical. The previous owner said he'd recently replaced the lower unit, so I'm suspicious that the shift rod adjustment was wrong to begin with and I made it worse by pulling on it. So, my two questions:

(1) I've read elsewhere that if the shift rod is adjusted properly, then the shift lever on the powerhead should be straight up and down in neutral. Is this correct for my motor? Does the "before" image above point to a mal-adjusted shift rod (it's in neutral).

(2) How likely do you think it is that I bent something in the lower unit, and if so, which part is it that I probably damaged?

I'd like to avoid dismantling the lower unit if I can, since it's supposedly new and I don't want to create additional problems in the process. I'm thinking maybe I should pull the lower unit and adjust the shift rod height to the correct value / see what it is and see if I can get it put back together with the shift lever and cable in the right position. I hesitate to do any of this though if I've got something bent down below that I should replace. Those gears are expensive!

Thanks!
Jason
 
NOTE that the 1989 100hp Evinrude is a Commercial designed engine.

The shift rod screws into the lower unit shifting mechanism and the measurement (In Neutral) from the top surface of the lower unit to the center of the shift rod hole is CRITICAL!

Exactly what that measurement is... hopefully another member jumps in here with it for you as my books only go up to 1986 pertaining to that measurement... which I will insert here for you to try in case if nobody comes up with a proper measurement that contradicts me.

1986 - 90 thru 110hp = (L) 21-27/32" - - (XL)26-27/32" plus/minus 1/32". Have shift rod in neutral.

I would assume that when the powerhead was off, you or a friend turned the shift rod out of adjustment.

You will not need to dismantle the lower unit BUT you will need to drop it in order to adjust the shift rod.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Joe. Nope, I didn't turn the shift rod when the powerhead was off, but I lack confidence that it was ever right to begin with. I'll go ahead and make sure that I have the correct measurement and then will drop the lower unit and verify / adjust as needed.

Assuming that I adjust it to spec and put it back together and it seems to shift properly, you wouldn't be worried that I'd bent the shift lever or detent lever or something down below?
 
joereeves said:
NOTE that the 1989 100hp Evinrude is a Commercial designed engine.

The shift rod screws into the lower unit shifting mechanism and the measurement (In Neutral) from the top surface of the lower unit to the center of the shift rod hole is CRITICAL!

Exactly what that measurement is... hopefully another member jumps in here with it for you as my books only go up to 1986 pertaining to that measurement... which I will insert here for you to try in case if nobody comes up with a proper measurement that contradicts me.

1986 - 90 thru 110hp = (L) 21-27/32" - - (XL)26-27/32" plus/minus 1/32". Have shift rod in neutral.

I would assume that when the powerhead was off, you or a friend turned the shift rod out of adjustment.

You will not need to dismantle the lower unit BUT you will need to drop it in order to adjust the shift rod.
Click to expand...
According to the (Seloc) manual on Boatinfo, which covers models from 1973 to 1991 all 85, 90, 100, 110 and 115 from 1978 are 21.84 " ( which is 21[SUP]27[/SUP]/[SUB]32[/SUB]") (or 55.48cm if you live in the 21st century)

http://162.144.28.33/lib/evinrude/manuals/1973-1991johnsonevinrude.html#/304
 
Thanks vics. In your experience, does a properly adjusted shift rod generally correspond to a shift lever that is oriented straight up and down, or does it vary? It makes sense to me that it would, because this would give equal throw in both directions.
 
vics said:
According to the (Seloc) manual on Boatinfo, which covers models from 1973 to 1991 all 85, 90, 100, 110 and 115 from 1978 are 21.84 " ( which is 21[SUP]27[/SUP]/[SUB]32[/SUB]") (or 55.48cm if you live in the 21st century)
http://162.144.28.33/lib/evinrude/manuals/1973-1991johnsonevinrude.html#/304
Click to expand...

Which is clarifying that my 1986 measurement is identical to the 1989 100. Thank you... appreciate it.

*******************

Jason... You stated "you wouldn't be worried that I'd bent the shift lever or detent lever or something down below?"

That thought has occurred to me... and in lifting the boat by that shift rod alone?? If it was me, I thing I would remove the shift rod (unscrew it) so as to compare it with a similar shift rod at some dealership. it's okay to remove it as it screws back in as easily as it came out.
 
fdrgator said:
It sure seems like that much pull would have bent the stamped steel lever inside the gearcase (???)
Click to expand...

That was my thought too, just from looking at the diagrams. I've never had the gearcase apart though, so I'm not sure how rigid all those parts are. I'm trying to figure out if I can confirm or deny damage without tearing it down. If I were to pull the shift rod cover off would I be able to see anything useful?
 
jasonWA said:
That was my thought too, just from looking at the diagrams. I've never had the gearcase apart though, so I'm not sure how rigid all those parts are. I'm trying to figure out if I can confirm or deny damage without tearing it down. If I were to pull the shift rod cover off would I be able to see anything useful?
Click to expand...

The only additional portion you would see is the threaded bottom portion of the shift rod.

With that in mind.... count the turns so that you can return to the starting point.... if you can turn the shaft downwards and upwards, that indicates that no damage was done to the threads during your lifting error. And to refresh my memory, I viewed the shifting mechanism in the parts book... very unlikely anything would break, stretch, or bend there. That just leaves the threads questionable and a possible bending of the top portion of the shift rod.

If the lower unit was off.... you could easily check the actual inner shifting setup of the unit simply by yanking the shift rod up or shoving it down (while turning the propshaft/propeller to align the shifting lobes). If it jumps in gear in both directions with that action, the gearcase is okay.... leaving the shift rod measurement and possible bend in question.
 
Thought I should close the loop on this. FYI, here's what it looked like when it was screwed up:

20180730_185823_neutral_before.jpg

Notice the tape on the clamp for the adjuster and the fact that the lever is pointed somewhat forward. There was no more adjustment left on the front wheel, and I couldn't get it into forward without pulling the cable forward some. So here's what I did:

(1) Pulled the lower unit

20180730_192400_lower_unit.jpg

(2) Measured rod length using the screw in the yardstick "tool":

20180730_194648_shift_rod_length.jpg

The pic shows what looks like the rod being a few turns too long. I did confirm that I could catch forward by pulling up and reverse by pushing down and had a detent in the middle for neutral. Annoyingly, it seems to be in the neutral detent for 1/8" to 1/4" of rod travel, so it was tough to see how I could get it right to within +/- 1/32". I also confirmed that the threads were okay. I turned it in and had 8.5 turns until it bottomed out. I turned it back to the original position and then turned it out 7 turns until it was free. I reasoned that it was obviously too long, and the pic seems to confirm that, so I turned it in 3 turns from where I started (which I understand should be 3/32nds?). This looked a tad short versus my measuring tool, but I figured I could always pull it and readjust if needed.

Put the lower back on, and this is what it looks like now:

20180730_200616_neutral_after.jpg

Which seems to match up with pics I've seen of other people's motors, and seems logically correct. The lever is pretty much vertical (in-line with the drive shaft). Forward gear is a bit forward of vertical and reverse gear is a tad behind vertical. The thumbwheel adjustment is about in the middle of the range now, so I have some room to fine-tune if needed.

I took the boat out last night and it seems to shift solidly and reliably in both directions.

I suspect I may have twisted the horizontal shift shaft a tad, and maybe shortening up the shift rod adjustment compensates for it and gets me shifting right. I can definitely see why Joe says this adjustment is so critical. Shortening the rod length by 3 turns moved the neutral position at the end of the cable by something like an inch.

Thanks for the help and advice!

Jason
 
I hope that works out for you as pulling and installing those heavy lower unit is really no fun.

I'm glad to see that you're looking at the problem in a sensible manner and not taking any short cuts. That's always been my line of thought when I was a working guy.

The up/down 1/8" to 1/4" play of the shift rod in neutral mention bothers me... I don't recall any play existing in any lower unit adjustable shift rod... period! Play such as that, especially with critical measurements of 1/32" would drive me up the wall!

Anyone reading this that might have a lower unit off for any reason.... I'd appreciate having you check that shift rod for play and let us know your findings.
 
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