Thread: Gears

The story:
2003 model 40 hp johnson

I get my boat back from a guy that did some warranty work and it was idling high. Instead of taking the thing back to the man I decide to fix it myself.
While the motor is running I adjusted the linkage which was a very simple fix. (I had cups on the lower unit) To make sure everything is working properly, I shift the motor in to forward and rev the engine a few times. The last time I rev it up fairly high to make sure I didn't mess up the upper limit on the throttle. As I'm coming back off the throttle, all heck breaks loose. It literally sounded like the gears stripped out. I killed the engine imediatly.

Thinking the gears went caput, while the engine was off, I shifted the motor in forward, went to the prop and gave it a spin. No resistance! Every once in a while it would grab but not nearly enough to spin the crank shaft.

Anyone got any ideas?

You should never rev an outboard without a load on it. That's why they restrict throttle movement in neutral. They also didn't design it to be revved up in gear and out of water. Without water to cause a load on the prop and motor, you could have very well busted something.

i had the same problem but mine was in the water but what happened to mine was the shaft that goes from the lower unit to the top of the engine broke and the engine would run but the prop. would not spin at all. luckly for me i had another motor for spare parts and was able to switch the lower unit but now i only have foward gear. no neutral, or reverse i dont know what i did wrong could anyone help me out with this problem.

Yea you busted the gears. 40,48,50 horse engines from 1989-2004 use the same gears and break all the time. They are high too and its very difficult to find a used lower unit for one. I might be able to help you out if you need gears