I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. Everything is good except the motor won't go into gear. The first day I bought it I went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any ideas?

In article , Bmallory410.c1c4593
@boatbanter.com says...

I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson
seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck
hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. Everything is
good except the motor won't go into gear. The first day I bought it I
went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When
I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it
wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or
forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin
and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any
ideas?

Go buy a 5HP motor and hang it off the back.

On Dec 11, 3:37*pm, Bmallory410
wrote:
I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson
seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck
hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. *Everything is
good except the motor won't go into gear. *The first day I bought it I
went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When
I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it
wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or
forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin
and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any
ideas?

--
Bmallory410

Sorry for the rotten luck...

I'm curious at what caused the pin to shear off. Did by chance you may
have hit something solid enough to rip the gears in the lower end?
I'm not sure at all. But it sound like something that needs a
qualified mechanic to look at it.

Yeah I'm gonna have someone look at it... It was also leaking gas(not bad but def not normal) from around the shaft and exhaust.... I'm thinking there might be a problem with the carb?...the guy I bought it from said he cleaned it or something maybe he didn't put it back together right?

On 12/11/2012 4:37 PM, Bmallory410 wrote:
I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson
seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck
hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. Everything is
good except the motor won't go into gear. The first day I bought it I
went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When
I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it
wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or
forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin
and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any
ideas?




Drain the gear oil and see if you find anything that shouldn't be there.

On 12/12/2012 10:26 AM, Meyer wrote:
On 12/11/2012 4:37 PM, Bmallory410 wrote:
I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson
seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck
hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. Everything is
good except the motor won't go into gear. The first day I bought it I
went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When
I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it
wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or
forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin
and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any
ideas?




Drain the gear oil and see if you find anything that shouldn't be there.

Great suggestion

On 12/11/12 4:37 PM, Bmallory410 wrote:
I recently purchased a used 14 ft Jon boat with a 1959 18hp Johnson
seahorse outboard motor.... I just planned on using the boat for duck
hunting so I didn't really want to spend a lot of money. Everything is
good except the motor won't go into gear. The first day I bought it I
went to run it at the lake and it ran until the shear pin broke.... When
I got home i changed it and when I went back today to run it, it
wouldn't go into gear...when you pulled the shifter in either reverse or
forward nothing happened....prop wouldn't spin... Checked the shear pin
and it was good... It also won't rev up in neutral anymore either....any
ideas?




Here's a parts diagram of that engine:

http://tinyurl.com/clau6lp

Did the shear pin break because you hit something? The pin shearing is
supposed to prevent further damage inside the lower unit, but you still
might have damaged the shift mechanism in that area.