Johnson Outboard Forward Shift

I am a young boat owner. I have an 70's Caravelle with a Johnson 135 Outboard. Last summer I was on the water and it slipped from forward to neutral unexpectedly. I shifted it back into forward and after a minute it slipped again. After two or three times it finally would not engage into forward fully. I could only go about 5 mph. Reverse was fine and the motor was running well.

I drained the lower unit oil and found fine metal shavings. I took off the lower unit. When I shifted it into forward the top drive shaft would spin, but the lower shaft would not. There was the slipping that was happening on the water. When I shifted it into reverse the top and bottom shaft would spin. They were engaging.

I recently broke down the lower unit. The forward gear, the clutch dog, and the reverse gear were all fine. There were no broken pieces.

Is it the hydromechanical shifter inside the lower unit?

I've heard of some things to check but I don't think they are the cause: 1) Check the shifter cables and the shifter box. Something may have come loose. 2) Check the prop. It might be slipping.

Can anyone tell me why it's not engaging into forward? Thanks, Jason

Is the clutch dog sliding fully into the forward position on the prop shaft? Is ther an equal amount of travel from the neutral detent to both FWD & REV in the vertical shift rod? Have you made the same observations with the prop on the shaft & off?

Can you post pics of the gears & bith sides of the clutch on a host site?

Rob

Dave

"Jason Ham" <jason.ham@arkansas.gov> wrote in message