Just hooked up motor, won’t go into reverse….

Hey there! I just hooked up 79 Johnson 55hp to a different boat and OMC control unit. It went into foward and reverse a couple times, then only into forward, not reverse. It feels like the control unit won’t “unlock” from neutral into reverse (if that makes sense). Just looking for a point in the right direction! Thanks–Jon

Are you able to manually shift the motor into reverse on the motor? (not using the remote throttle/shifter). If so then it is more than likely a simple cable adjustment. It almost sounds as if the cable is too-short when it pushes the shifter on the motor into reverse. I had a similar problem years ago with an old Johnson I had not going into reverse but mine turned out to be a linkage problem inside of the motor.

Eyehunter

Try spinning the prop….. ……If it went in before, it should go in again.

Most motors don’t like being shifted back and forth without running….

Have you tried gettting it into gear while its running? Thats the tell all scenario. It sounds like a linkage adjustment. There are two adjustments for the forward and reverse cables. Otherwise it may be as simple as Gary’s scenario.

trust me on this……..just spin the prop and it will pop right in like it should!

Everything is fine.
The 25hp tiller I got sitting at my house is the same way. You would swear something came apart or broke, because “it ain’t going”…….spin the prop and it will drop right in.

Many outboard user manuals state “NOT” to shift gears back and forth when the motor is not running.

Well….I spun the prop..nothing. Started the motor, ran it in forward for a while, back to neutral…still won’t go into reverse. You can manually put the motor in reverse by hand (at the motor–not using the controlls), but the controll unit won’t unlock to allow it to go into reverse. It won’t budge. Any other thoughts?

Do you see the two linkage adjustments? Right after the two cables enter the motor there should be two adjustments. The forward gear adjustment needs to allow the shifting arm to return to rest easily against the idle adjustment screw. I think that this is either too tight or too loose I can’t remember which.

Disconnect the cables at the motor and check to see if you can put the shift controller into reverse. If you can, there is something wrong with the cable/linkage, if you still can’t, it is something in the controls. Those older OMC controls have always been finicky.