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Shifting troubles

M

mike0409

New member
I have a 1969 85 hp Johnson out board motor, and it is having some shifting troubles. I have full use of reverse and in order for the boat to go into foward gear, I put the shifter into forward and then I have to run the RPM's up on the motor and then it will slam into gear if you are in the water, now out of the water with a pair of water muff's hooked up to the motor it does the same. I have looked at the parts on this site for the shifting solenoids and they are both over $100, so I was hoping that someone on here may have some insight on what could be wrong with my motor before I just go ordering parts for it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look foward to any information I may receive.

Sincerely,

Mike
 
That lower unit demands what is called Premium Blend, also known as Type C, available at your dealership. You cannot use the HiVis 80/90w gearlube that is used in the mechanical shift models.
 
The unit is spring loaded to go into forward gear !!--------------The 2 solenoids are used for shifting it OUT of forward and into reverse.--Do not rush out and buy new parts without testing.-----------My bet is that there is debris in the shift piston bore that prevents the spring from putting it into forward.----Electric shift is elegantly simple and very reliable too.
 
The solenoids are in the lower unit ------BUT --------------As stated , one solenoid is energized to put it in nuetral and BOTH are energized to put it in reverse.-----------Since it is not going into forward I strongly suspect that there is a problem with the spring loaded shift piston. Namely dirt / foreign material in the piston bore.-------------When forward is selected there is NO electrical power to the solenoids !---------I have repaired more than one of these electric shift units and they are very simple / reliable.
 
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