1956 Johnson 30hp jumping in and out of forward gear

[Retroman]

Hope all is well, I have an issue I hope you can help me with.
Towards the end of the 2011 season my motor kept jumping out of forward and into neutral, I would just pull the shift lever back into the neutral postion, then put it in forward again and it would go back into gear. I ended up adjusting the shift linkage to favor the forward postion and everything was fine for the 2012 season(however, I did end up losing reverse, but I could live with that).

Towards the end of this (2012) season, It started jumping in and out of forward, not into neutral. You could hear the motor rev up and slam back into forward. I dont belive it has anything to do with the lower unit because when I remove the gear shift cable and operate the shifter by hand forward neutral and reverse work fine, although I do have to put significant pressure on the shift lever to maintain reverse.

I believe there is something wrong with the linkage, although I cant see any sloppyness . Does anyone have any experience with these motors and this issue? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Here is a link to a youtube video of the motor under way. You cant hear the motor jumping in and out of gear because of the wind, but you can see it jerk every 15 to 20 seconds if you look closely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-rflNZPEd4

Thanks again,
Jim

[thudpucker]

I have a long story about that very issue.
It's not the linkage.
It's the Shifting Dog and the mating surface of the Fwd gear is worn.
It happened to my 35 Johnson.
I had an in law in a machine shop at the time. That fix never failed again.

The next time it was my 85 Hp Johnson.
I fixed that one with my Dremel tool.
I think you can still get new parts though.

[Retroman]

Thank you sir, your opinion seems to be the concensus. I guess its a common problem. I'm gonna send the LU to Tim Digennaro at Tims Classic Outboards.

[pamelalynne1]

If the gear is not badly worn you might actually be able to turn the clutch dog around as long as the reverse gear is ok too. You rarely will throttle up much in reverse and you might get a few more years of service without replacing it. You could also try Seaway Marine.com for parts availbility. They no longer list the parts prior to 1968 but you can fill out an inquiry form. If you were nearby in upstate NY I have a couple of motors of the vintage for parts and would let you try another lower unit. I just don't have the time or ambition to tear hem down, inspect them and list the parts on e-bay.