No reverse???

[Cam]

Well, I finally made it down to the boat to check on the tranny. One of the shift rods was a little out of alignment but not where it should have been a problem. I straightened it out and shot some red grease on everything that moved regarding the shifter, worked it back and forth with the motor off then started engine and tried again. This time I was able to get it in gear with minimal grinding. I shut engine again and repeated spraying and working the shifter again, then tried with engine running again. It got much better. I was able to shift without the grinding. Very weird, but I am very happy now. Let's hope everything stays like this.

[Stillrunning]

I also have a 1996 150 Johnson that had the same shift problem but I found a different reason why it happened. Where the shift shaft enters the lower unit there is a plate and it has two O Rings that seal the shift shaft. The plate holding the O Rings had corroded aroung the O rings and was causing the Orings to pinch too tight around the shift shaft. I just removed the plate and cleaned it up and replaced the O rings. From what I had read this was a common problem and I now check them everytime I replace the water pump.

[Cam]

Gonna keep that in mind if and when it ever happens again. So far, no need for a water pump repair.