"Travis" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for the great info. How do I shift then engine manually? Can I
do this with the hose hooked up to my boat or must I put it in the
water?

I had an older Johnson and I found that the shift mechanism for the engine
ran thru a lever/rocker arm and the pivot point/bolt had eggshelled out the
lever arm. This resulted in too much play and the gear in the foot wasn't
being engaged because there was too little throw on the shift rod to the
foot. This lever arm is under the carb in the front of the engine. One
side of this lever connects to a rod going to the foot and the other side
connects an arm to the shift lever the shift cable attaches to.

I removed the arm and welded a washer to each side of the shift arm/lever.
Problem fixed!