1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neutral

[fellinger]

Hoping for some advice or troubleshooting info. I have 1995 200 Ocean Runner. The motor stars perfectly and runs perfectly. When returning the boat from forward gear to neutral it stalls. It will do so even if I slowly drop it into neutral. It is fine going from forward, through neutral and into reverse and vice versa. At normal idle it is in about the 800RPM - 900RPM range my other motor is in. Any ideas?

 

[buguy]

Re: 1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neut

I wonder if it could be the shift interrupter malfunctioning? Its supposed to cut half the cylinders when you are shifting.

 

[fellinger]

Re: 1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neut

I wonder if it could be the shift interrupter malfunctioning? Its supposed to cut half the cylinders when you are shifting.

Is this located within the shifter assembly? I wouldn't think it was the issue because as soon it stall I can start it right up without readjusting the shifter. Also, the motor doesn't abruptly stall. It seems to drop RPM's. I was thinking maybe I need to go up a tad on the idle?

Thanks for the response!

 

[grady_22]

Re: 1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neut

I wonder if it could be the shift interrupter malfunctioning? Its supposed to cut half the cylinders when you are shifting.

Is this located within the shifter assembly? I wouldn't think it was the issue because as soon it stall I can start it right up without readjusting the shifter. Also, the motor doesn't abruptly stall. It seems to drop RPM's. I was thinking maybe I need to go up a tad on the idle?

Thanks for the response!

The shift interrupter switch is located on the shift linkage under the cowling (should be on the starboard side of the motor). It is a small black device with a spring loaded pin that closes the switch as the shift linkage goes between in-gear and neutral. As the previous poster mentioned, it very briefly cuts spark to half of the cylinders to minimize stress on drivetrain components during shifting. It makes sense that once you are in neutral, that the motor should easily start back up, as the switch would no longer be engaged. I would test the switch, as maybe the spring loaded function is sticking, causing the motor to stall as it will not run on three cylinders for very long. You could also try removing the switch and seeing if the problem still occurs.

 

[jbrinch88]

Re: 1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neut

Locate the shift switch and disconnect it. Try and shift and see if the problem still occurs and if not you found your answer. From my experience it's usually a sticky switch or stiff shift cable/linkage.

 

[Jereazy]

Re: 1995 Johnson Ocean Runner Stalling When Returned to Neut

Locate the shift switch and disconnect it. Try and shift and see if the problem still occurs and if not you found your answer. From my experience it's usually a sticky switch or stiff shift cable/linkage.

^this. It's on the starboard side of the engine near the throttle linkage. It's a small black box with a little nipple on the end of it. when you shift to neutral it kills half the engine to make it easier to shift into reverse or vice versa. Normally the issue is the little nipple gets stuck down for too long and causes the engine bank to not start back up.

here's a video of what it is and where it is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEqNLPtOrq8 - may be slightly different on yours.

Your engine can function and shift without it - though you'll get a hard shift from time to time if you disconnect. But you can simply disconnect until a replacement can be found.

Oh, and lubing it up a bit sometimes will help.