Boat only goes forward
Submitted by bigmick on Tue, 2013-04-23 20:00
Today my boat decided that it only wants to go forward, plus the prop spins when it's in neutral. When I put the throttle into reverse, it still just powers up and goes forward. This problem started after the mate that was at controls turned the ignition off when the throttle was still in the forward position not neutral. Any ideas please
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
What motor/ year. Maybe just
What motor/ year.
Maybe just the gear linkage needs adjusting ?
bigmick
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 04/02/13
80's Johnson VRO 40
80's Johnson VRO 40
RobertMc
Posts: 326
Date Joined: 19/01/09
Hey mate probably easy to
Hey mate probably easy to work it out, just take your cowling off your motor , and get someone to shift it in and out of forward and reverse and see what your cables are doing and work back from there,
Ericl
Posts: 475
Date Joined: 02/05/11
Better than only wanting to
Better than only wanting to go backward
Don't spend all your money on beer, boats, and fishing. Save some to spend foolishly
Cortez474
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 24/01/12
What RobertMc said ..... I've
What RobertMc said ..... I've got an 82 vro 40hp johnno.... Had the same trouble once after a service...... Pm me your number I'll be to happy to talk you through sorting it out if I can...
bigmick
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 04/02/13
Thank you so much for all
Thank you so much for all your advice people, I'm very new to boating and still have a lot to learn (It was a big shock when I was pulling into a jetty and it raced forward when I was trying to go backwards). I've sent you an email through the system cortez if there's any problems with that coming through let me know and I'll send you a pm (sorry am new to the site as well and am stil working my way areound that as well)
Leethal
Posts: 33
Date Joined: 28/10/07
linkage between the end of
linkage between the end of gear cable and gear selector lever under the cowling has either broken or one of the pins that holds it on has fallen out.
I think that'd be the only way it can stay in forward gear but still rev when put into reverse.
It looks like it's metal but I think it's plastic. Broke the same thing on a similar model outboard on my boat a while ago.
Cost me 5 bucks to take one off an old dead 2 cylinder jonno motor at Mhuling marine I thnk it was. Plenty of those old motors lying around so should be easy to find parts for
Cortez474
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 24/01/12
Pm sent
Pm sent
Cortez474
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 24/01/12
Pm sent
Pm sent
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Mate this happened to us at Rotto Years ago
Took Royal Perth's entire ICU team out to Rotto on a Sunday for some Sun and Beers at the Arms. All worked the Monday Morning. About 4pm decided to head home. Had a 23ft glass boat and VolvoPenta sterndrive. Got stuck in reverse. Same story, spin in neutral. Somehow reversed it closer to the Marine/Dive shop under the Dome area (it wasnt there then) but they couldnt figure it out. (I think they had started on the slops a little earlier).
Now entire next morning team stuck at Rotto. No way going to reverse home. Called Vigilant and they said that they are back in Perth and we had to wait until the next morning. The urgency was discussed and they towed us back.
All it was was a 20c cotton pin that had snapped!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
bigmick
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 04/02/13
I've had a look and
I've had a look and everything I can see is doing what it's supposed to do. I've got a feeling that the gear selector (I think that's what it's called - the last bit you see before everything disappears into secret outboard mechanic's business) isn't interested in putting the gearbox into the gear I want it to be in.
My fingers are way to fat to be fiddling around with it but I'd say that it won't cost me that much to get it sorted (I'm looking at getting the motored serviced soon so hopefully I'll kill two irds with one stone).
I've had two Holden Commodores have the gearstick break on me and be stuck in reverse, reversing them home on both occasions wasn't a lot of fun so I'd hate to think about trying to reverse a boat from Rottnest.
At least yopu guys have helped get rid of my main fear that the gearbox had decided to pack up on me and thank you all so much for your advice
scubafish
Posts: 962
Date Joined: 15/08/12
You can find all diagrams for
You can find all diagrams for your moter. http://find.boats.net/?q=%20Johnson%20VRO%2040&fq=year_facet:%221988%22
http://img.gg/BQ91Sys
Old Tub
Posts: 13
Date Joined: 27/12/12
Boat only goes forward
If the shift arm and selector linkage all appears to be moving when you move the gear lever then the shift rod (that goes down the leg) has probably become disconnected from the shift lever (that runs horizontally to connect to the top of the shift rod). This would be disconnected anyway to remove the lower unit for a service so it shouldn't cost you any extra for your service if this is the problem.
On a side note, I had a shift cable end break recently where it connected to the shift arm, leaving the outboard stuck in reverse at Rottnest. It is possible to manually move the shift arm to engage neutral or the other gear if this happens and I could have got the boat back home like this. However, I had a few cable ties with me (an essential part of the boat tool kit) and managed to re-rig the cable to the shift arm temporarily. It was a better day than when I broke the steering cable at Rottnest and had to come all the way back to Leeuwin boat ramp with my mate standing on the swim platform and 'hugging' the outboard to steer it.
Old Tub