Shifting Problem with '93 Johnson 25 hp

I bought a used 1993 Johnson 25 hp and the guy said the lower unit and the water pump had just been "rebuilt". Well, the water pump didn't work, so I took it apart and it had been put in there so wrong it was just terrible. The gearcase was also stuck in reverse, but I adjusted the linkage and had it shifting good on shore, and it also started up okay and went into Forward okay, but then it died because I forgot to push the choke back in (I was excited just to have it moving forward!) and it was at this point that I found that there was something really wrong with the shifting. It was really hard to move the shifter and no matter how hard I tried I could not get it to Neutral, it just skipped from forward to reverse. I ended up paddling a boat not meant for paddling about 200 yards while floating down the river.

Has anybody encountered this problem before? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

This sounds like a problem with the shift linkage alignment (I've had similar issues on a '94 Suzuki 15 and a '94 Johnson 30). There's a plastic bracket under the cowling on the starboard side, to which the shift handle is connected. It has three detents in which the handle and its linkage can rest (F,N,R). If the linkage between this bracket and the lower unit is set a bit too long or too short, the "N" position of the handle will not quite correspond to the "N" position of the gearcase and it will be unable to stay in neutral. It's just a matter of making sure the entire linkage is intact and well lubricated, and playing with the nuts to get the handle detents and the gearcase positions to line up exactly. I know you thought it was OK on land but in my experience it usually takes three or four on-water tries before you can be confident that it's exactly right.
IIRC this motor also has a plastic pin that is forced up by the shift linkage when in neutral to block part of the throttle linkage, so that it can't over-rev in neutral. If this pin is not well lubricated it can stick.

 

Thanks a lot Marshmat, I am going to work on it some more when it cools off today.