Reply To: Johnson &Evinrude jumping out of gear 51/2 to 40 hp older motors

[johnyrude200]

One thing I didn’t hear anyone say (and I admit some of the really long responses I only skimmed…appologies if this has been said), is that with the worn linkages/slop, particularly at the shifter, the yoke that goes from the powerhead down to the shifter, and then the shift linkage that is in the exhaust housing, I have found that shimming the shift lever stud and the little knob hanging off the actual shift lever can fix these issues.

So what I am saying is pull the shift lever off and put a couple of washers behind it. This will take the slop out of where the shifter yoke engages the spring that tensions the shift lever against the shifter cam (which holds the motor in F-N-R). You can also put a nylon bushing or if not available wrap electrical tape over and over the little stud which follows the shifter cam. The shifter cam is the thing that the shift lever follows and holds the motor in gear. It is located on the starboard side and you can see this if you look at the shift lever.

The 25hp motors are most sensitive to wear and tear to these components. The 18 and 20 tolerate it more.

So the newer style gearboxes with spring loaded ballbearings in the prop shaft, those motors are better but jump out of gear when everything is worn more easily.

You really can’t put an older fastwin gearcase on a 1969 or newer style 18-20-25 because they lacked this improvement. Generally the easiest way to identify which gearboxes have these detent ballbearings is if the anti-ventilation plate is round or square at the back of the fin. The round ones are the older style, the square are the ones with the detent.

If you are lucky enough, you can get your hand on the rather uncommon 3-lug gearboxes for the 22 c.i. motors. Once you have one of those, you won’t have to worry about any of these issues again regardless!