How to Inspect Dog Clutch ???

General Boats and Motors
1

I think my Dog Clutch is bad & possibly the forward & reverse gears. My question is can you see the dog clutch & gears by just pulling off teh lower unit gear case or do you also have to pull out the prop saft assembly. Just dropping the lower unit is not that bad but looks like pulling out the prop shaft is going to be a little trick & require some special tools that I don’t have. Any help is appreciated…

2

I am not an outboard mechanic, but I am very familiar with the lower unit of a 25 hp johnson. On that engine, you must pull the prop shaft to get at the clutch and gears. Yes it does require a Johnson wrench, I made an extractor from a chunk of stainless steel and some threaded rods. I do have a fairly extensive home shop with taps and dies, torches, drill press, etc. If you are not so blessed, I would recomend taking it to a Pro.

ZX

3

Yes, you will have to pull the prop shaft, and yes, you need special tools. Don’t dig into that if you don’t know how, or you are a good mechanic :wink: Pulling the lower unit will only access the water pump.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair

4

if the clutch dog, forward and reverse gears are bad, you would be much better off finding a used or aftermarket gearcase.
you must pull the bearing carrier to access the prop shaft so you can get to the clutch dog

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org

5

As I feared, looks like a mechanic it is. From all the post I have read looks like it is the dog clutch & may or may not be the gears. It accosionally at speeeds of 15mph or more feels like the foot hit something under water. The motor jerks or jumps slightly. The RPMs do not rev so I do not think it is the hub slipping. I have called around & a mechanic also told me I can get a new foot with a 3-year warranty for around $840 or so. So if it is the dog clutch & gears it will be cheaper to buy the new foot. One mechanic told me $100 to pull the clutch & gears out to check it out. May go that route first incase it is not that or just teh clutch. I appreciate the helps guys, just saved me some time & a headache.