Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 1968 evinrude fastwin 18 popping out of gear › Re: 1968 evinrude fastwin 18 popping out of gear
Do you have the spring loaded arm on the starboard side of the power head that extends out of the lower cowl? On the end is a cam that acts as a detent to hold the gear shift in either neutral, forward or reverse. On an 18, that’s about all there is to hold it in gear. There IS an adjustment that is made, there. You can also double check that your shift rod connector is installed properly (holes line up with grooves in shafts) and proper bolts are nice and snug but not stripped out. Also check the bell crank under the power head, that connects the handle shaft to the vertical upper shift rod, for slop/looseness. That being said, once one of those cases jumps out of gear under full load, even once, it is telling you that the forward gear and clutch dog are toast. Maybe you just had two bad lowers. It’s pretty common on 18s through 40s.
Long live American manufacturing!