Outboard shifting issue ?
 

Having outboard shifting issue ?
Engine: Johnson 90 HP 2-stroke early 2000's vintage.

Ran boat on the lake for about couple hours in the morning, then came back to house for lunch.

Jumped into boat after lunch for an full afternoon on the water.
Shifted boat (from console) into forward, and the boat started to go into 'reverse' ! I thought I was imagining things, so put gearshift into neutral.
I then shifted into 'forward' again, again the boat started to go into 'reverse' !
Killed the engine, checked under the console gearshift for a loose or broken cable,'all good there'. I then checked all cable connections to engine, from shift/throttle back, 'all ok there also' !

Removed the engine cover, and moved shift gear at console into forward, appears to be shifting ok, did the same in reverse, all appears ok also. Repeated this process several times with same results.

So if from all appearances everything is functioning, what can be causing the engine to go into 'reverse' when I put gearshift into 'forward' ? Really perplexing. All I can think of it may be some type of problem with a 'shifter fork' in the outboard lower unit? I pray it's not $$$

One last thing..... Up until now, the engine shifting has been working fine. I did notice this time, that when I place shift lever into any gear, I don't hear that usual 'clunk' type sound moving from gear to gear. It now just seems to slide into gear withoout too much resistance?

Will be bringing boat to local marine tech guru to trouble-shoot, but asking the Forum for their thoughts.

As always your feedback is greatly appreciaited !

Sorry to hear, bigdog...
 

Sounds like a shift cable to me, and-or a linkage problem...
Happened to my brother once, trying to dock at Happy Landing. He put it in reverse to stop the boat, and it kept going forward so he gave it a little more throttle in reverse and it climbed right up on the dock and took the prop out as well!! Not a Happy Landing on that day!! :(


Terry
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If the shift mechanism is moving correctly (the lever on the starboard side should rotate clockwise to go into forward, if memory serves) on the engine, and the shift shaft is connected to said mechanism (the connection is under the carbs but also look for the R pin that connects the lever to the horizontal shift linkage), then the problem is most likely in the lower gear case. Worst case, if the lower gear case is indeed at fault, is a new complete lower gear case. SEI sells their SE 305 for $845, complete. That is likely much cheaper than paying someone to rebuild yours. They are very easy to replace (except for connecting the shift shaft under the carbs, that's a PITA). If you do find that you need to replace the lower gear case, PM me, I've done it before on a 2000 Johnson 90.

sounds like the lower end unit clutch dog