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Unable to Remove Johnson Lower Unit
Caseyuconn	#1  Posted on 05/01/11 - 5:58 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 62 Comments: 0 Joined: 04/02/11	Nightmare day with my 1995 Johnson 88 SPL. (Just bought the boat/motor) I have a factory service manual for this engine and am attempting to rebuild water pump before the season. Problem: The shift rod is not disengaging from the power head. The manual specifies to put the engine in reverse, remove cotter pin from shift lever than push shift lever attachment in toward the center of the motor to disengage the shift rod. After multiple tries it is NOT disengaging. The lower unit drops +/- 2 inches and will not come off even after much wiggling and pushing on this shift lever during removal attempts. Any good advice for getting this thing off?
seahorse	#2  Posted on 05/02/11 - 2:49 AM
Member Posts: 103 Comments: 0 Joined: 05/21/06	Often the shift rod corrodes onto the linkage under the carbs. You can see the rod coming up through the vertical steering tube and going in under the powerhead. From the stb. side of the motor, grab the rod with needle nose pliers and pull towards you while pushing the engine shift lever away from you. If you remove the boat shift cable, it is easier to do. Sometimes you may have to spray some penetrating oil where the shift rod attaches to the linkage. Edited by seahorse on 05/02/11 - 2:50 AM
Caseyuconn	#3  Posted on 05/02/11 - 4:06 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 62 Comments: 0 Joined: 04/02/11	I will give that try tonight, Thank you. As a follow up question is it okay to remove the lower unit in Neutral or Forward? This may give the cable a different position possibly making it easier to remove. Will any harm come from removing this way?
Anemone	#4  Posted on 05/02/11 - 6:58 AM
Member Posts: 73 Comments: 0 Joined: 02/28/11	I have never had an issue with it being in whatever gear, as long as you remember which gear it is in and do not move the shifter cables while you are working. On my Johnson you have to remove the starter to really be able to deal with the linkage and mine has a screw, not a cotter pin. I would double check that and make sure you dont have a screw holding it together somewhere that you are not seeing.
djacksonrn	#5  Posted on 05/02/11 - 6:58 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 39 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/12/11	I've never dropped a unit in anything other than neutral, with no ill effects.
Caseyuconn	#6  Posted on 05/02/11 - 4:50 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 62 Comments: 0 Joined: 04/02/11	Got home, shifted it to forward. Pulled cotter pin, pushed shift lever, than grabbed the shift lever with some needle nose pliers and pulled toward me. Had lower unit off in 7minutes from the start time. Miles away from where I was yesterday. Thanks for the helpful posts.