I'm sorry, I know near nothing about the mechanics of an outboard motor. I just got my boat back from the repair shop where I had it fixed for a spun prop hub.

I'm paranoid about it, so with it not running, to "test" it out I put it in forward drive and then I turned the prop by hand in reverse to mimmick the internals turning until they connect on the prop which would then continue turning to make the prop spin in the right direction and make it go forward. With not much pressure, it will connect with whatever's inside there, and then slip passed it again until it catches again further around. It will keep slipping if I keep pushing and turning. This makes me think that under power from the motor it will just fail.

I did this for reverse too, and turned the prop forward to do the same as above again. It connects solid, and doesn't give, and I can feel it beginning to move the pistons in the motor if I keep pushing.

So, does this sound like I can expect it to fail in forward gear on the water?? I had an issue before with it not wanting to go into gear and stay there. It would grind going in and sometimes jump out again, and it finally failed completely. It would not go forward or reverse on the water. The mechanic suspected a bad gear dog and also gears based on what I told him, but later said it was a spun prop when he looked at it. I know that much was true, but I wonder if there is still more wrong. I have to try it on the water to know but it's killing me to wait until I can to know.

Ok I just watched a video on the gears of a lower unit and I understand now how it is shifting. I believe the slippage I'm feeling is the actual gear on the prop shaft slipping by on the gear dog until it catches another tooth?? Maybe?? This could also be explained with a shifter cable that is stretched out as well couldn't it?? The mechanic showed me how mine is nearly at maximum adjustment and there is not really anymore to give there. That might be all that's wrong, but that's enough alone.

Depends on the motor.

If you put a merc in forward, the prop won't spin in one direction by hand but will spin in the other direction and it will me making a clicking noise when it does. It's designed that way so when you back off the gas, it does not spin the motor. If you notice, when you back of the throttle quickly with a merc, you will hear a real fast clicking noise coming from the motor.

If it's a Johnson/Evinrude, it will not spin in either direction when in gear. If you back off the throttle real fast on a JohnnyRude, you will hear it through the carbs and get what's called a decel knock, kinda like a car spark knocking.

It's a Johnson 88 SPL. Now I'm worried.

If the prop is turning, it may not be ingaging the the gear inside the lower unit. Put it on a hose, crank it up, shift into gear and cut it off while in gear and then see if the prop turns, it should not turn now. If you don't want to mess with the muffs and all, take the cover off and spin the flywheel about one turn clockwise while in gear, and then see if it turns.

By the way, shift cables don't stretch. Or should I say there is no way under the sun you are ever going to put enough pressure on one with the shifter handle to stretch a shift cable or throttle cable.

If you have some doubt about the cable, you can disconnect it and shift if by hand and see how it does and if the cable is making enough travel to fully engage it.

One word of caution, when dealing with mechanics, and they realize you are mechanically inept, they can lay all kinds of things out there that's wrong with you motor/boat to sock you with a big bill, when many times it's not a problem or it's a simple adjustment they are not telling you about. Now, I'm not saying all mechanics are crooks, there are some good, and honest ones, but they fall into the same catagory as finding an honest lawyer.

Good news!! My shifter cable is stretched out to China!! Haha!!

Ok, not good news. That's better than the alternative news of a bad lower unit though.

I had the hood off and watched how it worked as I shifted it and saw what cable did the shifting. Then I turned the prop with it in gear. I kept hearing a ticking noise as it slipped and it came from inside the lower unit as well as up by the motor head. So I looked at the head while turning the prop and I could see the lever that the cable is attached to moving a little bit. So I manually pushed it forward since the cable could not be made to do so, and then the prop would not turn anymore by hand. It will engage and hold the gear if that lever is pushed forward and held. I can let off holding it and it will stay on its own too, and the prop still isn't able to be turned by hand, but if I shift back to neutral and then into forward again it will not engage the gears on its own. Seems that the cable is stretched to me. The adjustment for the cable is already maxed out from previous owners apparently. There's none left to give. I figure the reason it holds in reverse is because in that position the cable is pushing the lever, not pulling, so it's jammed in place and the stretched cable doesn't have an effect then.

See how your luck is. Some of the cable ends are removable and you can cut a little off the cable and put it back on. Look at the cable end and right behind the eyelet on the end you will see the piece that goes through it about 1/4" in diameter and fastens the cable into it. Look at that piece if it's just a smooth, round stainless looking pin then sorry nothing you can do. If it looks like it has small hex head screws or small set screws in the center, then you can loosen them and take the off.

My concern is there's something else out of adjustment. I've been messing with these things a lonnnnggggggg time and I've never seen one just stretch. You just can't put enough pressure on it with the shifter to stretch it. Every time I've come across one that ran out of adjustment, the throttle and shift linkage on the engine was mal adjusted or something in the control head was wrong.

Mine has the pins only. I had the same idea today but there was no way to take the end of it apart.

Where would I look to see what might be out of adjustment?? The boat mechanic was who told me it might be stretched, and I've heard that before from a buddy of mine who changed his cables because of the same thing, but what you said makes sense about the lack of enough stretching pressure. I am inclined to agree, it looks like something would break before it just stretched out if there was that much pressure.

You would have to spend about $30 on a Clymer manual or about the same thing to have a dealer order you the factory service manual. There are several key points that all should match up when everything is properly adjusted on the engine. You will a manual to see know how to check them.

Ok, I did some tinkering today with the shifter cable. I completely uninstalled it. If it has any play in it, it is only 1/8 inch or less. I can actually get the front end of it to slide into the insulation just a tiny bit before the rear end of it begins to move. I guess this is from slack in the insulation around the wire. Otherwise I think the cable could be ok. It's tight compared to other things I found that aren't.

What I found that does explain a few things are two problems, one on each end of things. In the motor head where the cable attaches there is a plastic bracket that it hooks into. The plastic bracket is bolted onto a lever that moves to do the shifting in the motor. The lever has no play in it at all, it's solid, but the bolt that holds the plastic cable bracket to the lever has a good bit of wobble to it. Like the hole the bolt goes through is wallowed out. It has a plastic insert that goes into the hole and the bolt goes through that. I think this plastic insert is worn down a good bit allowing for movement. I can fix that I believe. A new insert, or new bolt to fit tighter. But with it the way it was being loose, there would be some movement that kept the lever from being pulled far enough forward to hold the motor in gear. That alone might have been enough to cause the problem I've been having, but that's not all I found.

Then inside the control box where the other end of the cable attaches, it hooks to a swinging arm that is geared to move with the shift lever. I think this is called the shift lever cam. This thing has a good bit of play when the shift arm is in the idle position. When the throttle is pushed forward it has less movement, which explains why the motor would stay in gear at higher speeds but anytime it was just in the first detent position where it would just idle it was possible for it to jump out of gear. I can see why now, it has as much as 1/2 inch or more of movement. This would allow the cable to move and let the lever in the motor head to move and come out of gear. Not only that but it's made of multiple parts that are riveted together and the rivets are loose enough to allow movement also. Not sloppy loose, but definitely not tight. I think this thing is worn out.

So my next question is can I buy parts for the control box or do I need the whole thing new?? This is where the bulk of the slack is in the line. At least 2/3, with another 1/4 being in the slop from that bolt on the lever in the motor head.

Searched for 3 hours online tonight with no luck other than finding old used units on ebay, which may be no better than mine now. Johnson's website says the part is not available anymore, and I've read of at least a dozen other people having similar troubles with no solution to it. What can I do?? I'm about to just go engineer something up and make the best of it.

http://www.go2marine.com/product/157153F/single-lever-side-mount-control-b89-b90.html

http://www.ebay.com/...0-/200567260355

Here's a new one, but you need to make sure what will interchange with yours. I'm pretty sure most any remote will operate the shifter and throttle, but the wiring harness connectors change about 96,

Johns, custom marine in California might have one. The Stokers carry a lot of used parts for them.

Thank you. In looking and reading about these two, it looks like I will definitely need a wiring harness adapter to use the BRP control box. This is probably the best way to go but it's also very expensive. near $500 with all the parts I need. I haven't spent a lot of time looking to see who has the best price yet though, just spent time learning about it to see what all I need.

Also, it looks like the Uflex box is just for cable controls only. What would I do about using the key start for the engine?? The Uflex is a little confusing because it says I need a kit to connect the C14 cable to the engine but the C14 cable looks identical to mine already. It should just be a direct swap. The Uflex box is much cheaper and I found it online for $158 already, but the absence of anything other than cable controls is probably why. I'd have to figure out something for the key start. That might not be so bad though. Never did this before so I really have no idea.

You might want to give these a call. http://www.johnscustommarine.net/

If you happen to get Al, there is nothing that man don't know about OMC's and he used to have a lot of used parts

Thank you. I wrote down the phone number from their site and will give them a call. Gotta do something for this boat, but I'm fairly sure my season is over except for trolling motor only now. Good thing I have two batteries, I'll be using them both for trolling to get me out there farther away from the ramp.

If it will shift into forward and hold when you push the handle all the way forward. Install a Hot Foot and take the throttle cable off the remote box. A lot of times you can find used Hot Foots for $50 or so.