Popping out of gear

[kevinnugent59]

Hi guys

Anyone here know what's the problem with my little 6hp Johnson? We were choofing along nice and steady the other day, and all of a sudden the motor bucked and stopped. Upon checking, it appears we may have hit a branch or something suspended in the water.

Anyway, the gear lever (forward - neutral - reverse) is very hard to change and when the motor is going forward it's fine until we get to a certain rev and then it pops out of gear. The lever is still in the forward position but the motor is in neutral. Once you slow the revs down, it slips back into gear and goes along OK.

Anyone got any ideas?

Regards
Kevin

[pw-bream]

Sounds like you might have bent the selector fork or lever/rod.
It's likely that you are only getting partial engagement of the dog clutch now, thus when you get to a certain power level the partly engaged dogs are forced apart. I think you had better either take it to your outboard dealer for repair or if you are able, strip the lower gearcase and have a look at what is wrong yourself. I stripped and rebuilt an old Evinrude 15 years ago with no trouble.