Johnson 175 Clicking in reverse and breaking shift lever

[Jskyh07@gmail.com]

I have a 98 Johnson FastStrike 175 and every since I’ve owned it(6 months) it would only make a clicking noise when shifted into reverse(would engage in reverse about 1/4 of the times I tried). Sometimes all it does is make a clicking noise, sometimes it will fully engage in reverse properly without issue and sometimes both click and partially engage. Last weekend I shifted into reverse on the river and it broke the plastic linkage shifter so I manually shifted into gear to get myself home and as a temporary fix for the next day I just JB welded the plastic lever to get me by till the new one came in and it worked just fine all day until I tried to shift into reverse and it immediately snapped it. My main concern was just wandering what would cause it to click instead of engage into reverse, this is my first bass boat so Idk my way around outboards as well as I’d like, and now I’m concerned about putting the new shift lever without figuring out what snapped the first one.

Thanks I’m advance for any help and advice!

[ChampioNman]

Disconnect the shift cable at the linkage. Key off and pull plug wires. Spin prop with your foot and manually shift the linkage between Reverse to Neutral and then to forward. Do this several times and see if the gears lock in place at both positions. Your shift cable may be out of adjustment. Also check the level of your lower unit fluid, remove the top vent screw and insert a zip tie into the lower unit like a dip stick.

[Jskyh07@gmail.com]

Thanks man I’ll give that a try