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1977 115HP not engaging into gear

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mkeith813

New member
Hi all. I've been reading through here for a while but finally making my first post.

I bought a 77 Evinrude 115 that I knew had a few issues this winter but have become stumped on my repairs. When I go to engage forward or reverse gear I'm getting full range of motion (I believe) on my shift rod but it wont completely slide into gear. It wants to "click" out. When the engine is off, I can put it gear while manually rotating the prop and it pops right in and seems to be seated well, both forward and reverse. I checked the oil in the lower unit and it was pretty milky and not full which tells me some water has made it into the gearcase. I assume that's why im not shifting fully into gear because the pump is not working properly under load. I plan on pulling the lower unit and replacing seals to resolve that leak issue but is it possible the water in the crank case has damaged the hydraulic shift assist pump and I'll need to replace it? Or should I be able to just replace seals and fill with fresh oil to see if that fixes it?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Well step # 1 is to take it apart and evaluate all the parts.-----There could well be a lot of big $ damage in there.-----May be cheaper / easier to find a good used lower assembly once you determine what is wrong./
 
racerone said:
Well step # 1 is to take it apart and evaluate all the parts.-----There could well be a lot of big $ damage in there.-----May be cheaper / easier to find a good used lower assembly once you determine what is wrong./
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Thanks. I plan to pull out the prop shaft assembly tonight to inspect. Is there a way to test the oil pump once it's out?
 
A pump that is worn that badly would be very rare, unless the rest of the unit is toast. Better shift your attention to the clutch dog and forward gear.
 
Pulled everything out last night and all seems to be in pretty good shape mechanically. Seals are in rough shape though. Ordering some new ones. We'll see if oil leakage was the culprit once those come in.
 
The motor is shifted with oil pressure assisting to make it smooth and effortless.----------With no oil pressure it will still shift.
 
fdrgator said:
Do you know what a worn clutch dog looks like? Lots of people say they look fine, when they aren't.
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I was a gear machinist for 10 years and I didn't see any bruising, burrs, or significant wear chamfers, but this is my first boat and the first time i've dealt with a clutch dog so you may be right.
 
Then you know your stuff about gears. But what counts here is where the dog engages the gear. Those surfaces must be FLAT where they meet. No rounding over. Even the slightest rounding will make it kick out of gear. Same reason a door latch retracts when you close the door.
 
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