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1985 Johnson v4 140

M

MetroCon68

New member
Hey gang- information collecting here, hope someone can offer right info. Son bought his first rig couple years ago with what we've come to find out what was the one year '85 v4 140. Lower unit hasn't been right since he's had it so we took the gearcase apart, new dog, new forward and reverse gear. Done, right? Not so simple-he took the rig out for the second time this year (I was with him on the first) and BOOM- snapped driveshaft right at the pinion gear! No impact, oil was good-just a clean snap. After digging in I find out that was a "thing" for this engine-thus the one year only production. Where I need help is this-only shaft we can find for this engine will be used (no longer in production) and now that I know this was a design flaw, I don't think we'll have faith in this route. I got on sterndrive.com and it shows the lower unit for this year will interchange with a complete lower from '86-'89 120 or 140 hp. I like the idea of the reman unit as opposed to the shaft repair- especially since we'd like to use it Sept up in our MN trip on a decent sized lake 12 hrs from home. His existing model # is J140tlcos (20")and the cross match table shows SEI-J90-306C but when I began a text thread with them the person on the other end said they couldn't help(?). I got this lower unit swap info from boatworksUSA, seems legit and the logical choice. Anyone have info or insight into this year outboard and if in fact it will swap out. I'd have to measure but i believe the bullet diameter is 4.25". TIA for any info before we pull the trigger on a $1,400 unit
 
There are numerous lower units that will fit.-----Even a V-6 lower unit.-----How did you determine it was a " thing " for this model.-----How did you determine it is a --" one year only production "----?????
 
Actually by mistake- went to local marina up north last year for parts. The tech/owner made us aware of that when he looked at the rig, then confirmed when we got home and did a little research while looking for OEM prop. This '85 engine is all by itself in the online search for parts diagrams. Couple guys ( one old timer) that have been in the outboard scene are the ones that let us know for '85 the driveshaft was known for snapping right where ours did. In fact one of them asked if that was our problem even before I could get my question out. He's the one that recommended we look for '86-89 lower unit as those driveshafts were made a a bit beefier at the pinion connection. So if I read the cross reference chart right from sterndrive, a complete unit matching SEI-J90-306c, it will bolt up? That's the way I took it but they shut me down when I gave them the model number of the engine saying they were afraid they couldn't help us. Thx for taking time to read !
 
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