Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by blindeman on 06/15/09 - 6:07 PM

I have a 1994 Johnson 88 SP that I just had serviced. Before I take it back there, I'm wondering if there is an adjustment or something I can simply do myself.

Here's the problem: I took the boat out Saturday and it went into reverse and backed out of the ramp area easily. But, when I tried to put it in forward, the throttle handle moved forward and the engine revved, but it remained in neutral. I put it back into the neutral position, put it in reverse again and it went into reverse without any issues. But, when I tried to put it into forward again, the same thing happened. Repeatedly. Finally it caught and away I went. This took maybe 5-7 minutes of doing this. Has the boat out for maybe an hour and a half and as I approached the ramp area on my return, I shifted it out of forward again and into neutral to see if the problem would reoccur. Sure enough, it took me another 5-7 minutes of fooling around with it until it caught the forward gear and I was able to bring her into the ramp.

I can't recall anything I did differently when it did catch both times, so I'm stumped. Is there some linkage adjustment or some other adjustment I can make to prevent this from happening? I just had the carbs cleaned, the lower unit oil changed, a new inline fuel filter installed, etc. I even bought a new battery a couple of weeks ago and drained the existing gas in the tank and started with fresh again. The things runs like a dream for an older engine when I get it out into the water. She just doesn't like going into forward gear now for some reason.

I don't pretend to know much about engines. I know I should. But, I don't. So, any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Bruce

Posted by Guts on 06/15/09 - 7:01 PM

My first impression is a bad cable. You could undo the cables at the engine and run the engine with water of coarse, and shift it manually to see if it is internal. Doing this will also let you move the shifter unattached to see if there is a problem in the cables. Un connected the shifter should move smooth with out ant kinks. I had this happen to me one time and it was a bad shift cable.

Posted by blindeman on 06/16/09 - 6:18 AM

I'll try to answer a couple of questions here...

Yes, the mechanic replaced the lower unit oil. Not sure if that entails getting into the linkage or not. But, it did shift fine before the mechanic did the work I described above. Secondly, I'm not sure about the control box. If you can envision a Currituck's console (or see my personal page for pics), the control box is mounted to a piece of vertical mahogany that is part of the center consol, just tot he right of the steering wheel. So, is that a side-mount? I assume so, but I can't verify. It is a Johnson control, I assume 1994 vintage, as that's the year of the engine and it looks to me to match. The engine key is inserted in to the control box on the underside. The shift lever is black and the safety release is red. You squeeze the release to move the shifter into gear.

Sorry to probably state the obvious above. But, I'm trying to describe it to thge best of my ability, since I'm not that technical/mechanical when it comes to marine engines.

Thanks for your help so far, gents!

Bruce

Posted by theo on 06/16/09 - 9:05 AM

Bruce, backatcha with a couple of answers. :)

Changing the lower unit oil is simply a matter of removing the fill and drain plugs and putting new oil in. No dissassembly and no chance of messing with the linkage.

I can't tell which type of control you have. A binnacle control is screwed down to a surface (top-mount) with the control above and the cables below or behind the mounting surface. (Doesn't matter what angle the mounting surface is at.) A side-mount will be screwed or bolted sideways onto the surface with the cables coming out the back of the box.

I think the others are on the right track; you probably have a bad cable. It's also possible your shift cable is OK but your control box is broken. Or possibly the linkage at the engine is coming apart. I think you should do like Guts suggests - disconnect the cables at the engine and see what you find.

Good luck. Let us know.

ps - there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. :wink:

Edited by theo on 06/16/09 - 9:08 AM

Posted by blindeman on 06/16/09 - 10:12 AM

Thanks, guys! I will do as suggested and try to disconnect the cable at the motor and see if I can shift it into forward w/out them. My contol box is side mounted, according to your description, Theo, with the cables running out of the back. Here's a pic of the controls, but it's difficult to see. I had to up the exposure b/c the image was a little dark:

[img]../../images/ppimages/10550/whaler controls.jpg[/img]

Posted by theo on 06/16/09 - 1:26 PM

#12

blindeman wrote:
I thought I could paste in an image here, but I suppose not. Apologies...

Bruce

Hit the "Browse" button by the "Attachment" line while you are writing a reply, then select an image from your hard drive. 100 KB limit. Joe allows you to upload photos to his server so long as they are small. Only one or two per thread just to get your point across. You aren't allowed to link to image hosting services.

cheers

Posted by blindeman on 06/16/09 - 6:38 PM

#13

No, the water pump was fine; not replaced. I don't think they did anything on the lower unit beside change out the oil. Looks like the control cables aren't too terribly expensive, so that might be the fix, once I determine that's indeed the cause. Hopefully, it's just an adjustment and nothing more.

What kills me most is that I'm in Richmond, about 2.5 hours from my boat, and I can't get down there to figure it out until this weekend at the earliest...

Posted by blindeman on 07/01/09 - 11:07 AM

#15

The PROBLEM IS SOLVED!!!!

And, it wasn't a cable, but -- the prop! Who woulda thought? Not me. But, apparently there are some threads, gears/teeth/etc. (you can tell I'm out of my element here) on it where when they were stripped from someone grounding the boat/prop. I guess they act like a sheer pin on older B&S lawnmower engines. They'll strip, preventing engine or linkage damage, which could be much more expensive to fix. Not that a new SS prop is cheap. But, she's running like a top now.

Interesting sidebar: I trailer my boat to the town ramp about 1 mile away. When not in use, she sits in front of my house. Seems everyone knows my boat -- because it is a whaler. Everyone talks about how nice a Whaler it is and when I tell them it's a '62/'63 hull, they can't believe it. I can't think of another 40+ year old boat that people could say that about. Had a long chat with my local Coast Guard about it. The gentlemen I was talking to made a point to walk over and ask me about my boat. I could've talked to him for hours about Whalers, he knew so much. But, I had to get out and enjoy the boat!

Anyway, thanks for anyone's help. If you ever can't get it to go in gear, check the prop!

Posted by MW on 07/01/09 - 2:15 PM

#17

I get the same thing when I tell people where I live in the neighborhood, "Oh yea, the house with the little Whaler in the Driveway". When I went to launch on "Memorial Day", I turned down the side street near my house (don't know many people there) and two guy's (Neighbor's) were in their driveway ea. having a Beer. I drove past them with my 15' in tow, she was "Shining in all her Armor" with American flag's flying, they just stopped talking and stared at me go by pointing at me, I just yelled out "Oh yea baby, who's got the BEST bike on the block NOW", they just started laughing, one guy retorted "YOU DO" !

Edited by MW on 07/01/09 - 2:17 PM