Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 89 Johnson 14spl M#VJ14RCEC › Reply To: 89 Johnson 14spl M#VJ14RCEC
Well I will say it was definitely galled a bit. I sprayed it down with kroil and gave it some lovin with a wood block and a mallet. Shifted to reverse and forward to see if she will drop. Nothing. I worked it a while and had that feeling something is not right. I got a little motion out of it but a twisting motion not a dropping motion. I could absolutely be wrong suspecting anything but some good old corrosion but I just don’t want to damage anything else. Are you familiar with this motor? Like I was saying earlier it’s kind of a unique build with a mixed bag of tricks. Until I get it apart I feel like Im guessing which steps to take to get it apart. I haven’t taken any pictures yet. I will tomorrow and maybe someone will recognize the shaft housing and lower unit.
Yeah,, I agree it is a conglomeration of design, more or less. Strange that the engineers put that rear stud where you would normally find a bolt. They should have known better. That’s the problem — they do stuff like that without talking or listening to us guys in the shop who have fought stuff like that for years in the past. Try getting an Electramatic Shift gearcase apart after it has been used in salt water 6 months. Normal procedure is with a hacksaw. Yes, some manuals actually do say that. But not the factory manuals.
OK, now that I’ve vented, on to the problem. There is nothing really strange about removing that lower unit. Everything to be said has already been said. If it isn’t the rear stud, it might be the drive shaft splines, but if is, one would expect it to move down at least a tiny bit. Either way, both are common problems and a royal PITA. The shift rod linkage is NOT keeping it from dropping down at least 3/4″. Powerhead removal is NOT required. In fact if the splines are rusted, you probably can’t even get the powerhead off.
If you can, post a picture of that rear stud area to refresh our memory.
And put away that mallet and block of wood before you bust the cavitation plate off.