71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

[newuserguy]

Hi all, OK, I bought a MFG boat with a 71 Johnny 50hp, electric shift. Rebuilt (factory shop) powerhead, new carb, new impeller. Runs like a swiss watch w/ 160 psi compression on both cylinders, very strong. The problem is the electric shift. It worked fine when I tried it 1 1/2 months ago. Now it starts in gear (forward), won't come out of forward-no neutral, no reverse. HELP. Also, can I change this control system to a different one (non-electric) without massive changes? My seloc manual gives me some ohmmeter checks and I will do that, BUT, I am a firm believer in -make it simple, smart. If this can be converted to a regular mechanical shift, I may go that way. Oh Yes, the boat and motor were left exposed to rain etc. (unknown to me) for the past 1 1/2 months with the battery connected. Did a solenoid get fried? A short? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Other than the electric shift this was a jewel of a purchase with a great motor, good boat & trailer for $1200.

 

[newuserguy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

Hi all, OK, I bought a MFG boat with a 71 Johnny 50hp, electric shift. Rebuilt (factory shop) powerhead, new carb, new impeller. Runs like a swiss watch w/ 160 psi compression on both cylinders, very strong. The problem is the electric shift. It worked fine when I tried it 1 1/2 months ago. Now it starts in gear (forward), won't come out of forward-no neutral, no reverse. HELP. Also, can I change this control system to a different one (non-electric) without massive changes? My seloc manual gives me some ohmmeter checks and I will do that, BUT, I am a firm believer in -make it simple, smart. If this can be converted to a regular mechanical shift, I may go that way. Oh Yes, the boat and motor were left exposed to rain etc. (unknown to me) for the past 1 1/2 months with the battery connected. Did a solenoid get fried? A short? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Other than the electric shift this was a jewel of a purchase with a great motor, good boat & trailer for $1200.

 

[newuserguy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

Hi all, OK, I bought a MFG boat with a 71 Johnny 50hp, electric shift. Rebuilt (factory shop) powerhead, new carb, new impeller. Runs like a swiss watch w/ 160 psi compression on both cylinders, very strong. The problem is the electric shift. It worked fine when I tried it 1 1/2 months ago. Now it starts in gear (forward), won't come out of forward-no neutral, no reverse. HELP. Also, can I change this control system to a different one (non-electric) without massive changes? My seloc manual gives me some ohmmeter checks and I will do that, BUT, I am a firm believer in -make it simple, smart. If this can be converted to a regular mechanical shift, I may go that way. Oh Yes, the boat and motor were left exposed to rain etc. (unknown to me) for the past 1 1/2 months with the battery connected. Did a solenoid get fried? A short? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Other than the electric shift this was a jewel of a purchase with a great motor, good boat & trailer for $1200.

 

[newuserguy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

Hi all, OK, I bought a MFG boat with a 71 Johnny 50hp, electric shift. Rebuilt (factory shop) powerhead, new carb, new impeller. Runs like a swiss watch w/ 160 psi compression on both cylinders, very strong. The problem is the electric shift. It worked fine when I tried it 1 1/2 months ago. Now it starts in gear (forward), won't come out of forward-no neutral, no reverse. HELP. Also, can I change this control system to a different one (non-electric) without massive changes? My seloc manual gives me some ohmmeter checks and I will do that, BUT, I am a firm believer in -make it simple, smart. If this can be converted to a regular mechanical shift, I may go that way. Oh Yes, the boat and motor were left exposed to rain etc. (unknown to me) for the past 1 1/2 months with the battery connected. Did a solenoid get fried? A short? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Other than the electric shift this was a jewel of a purchase with a great motor, good boat & trailer for $1200.

 

[newuserguy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

Hi all, OK, I bought a MFG boat with a 71 Johnny 50hp, electric shift. Rebuilt (factory shop) powerhead, new carb, new impeller. Runs like a swiss watch w/ 160 psi compression on both cylinders, very strong. The problem is the electric shift. It worked fine when I tried it 1 1/2 months ago. Now it starts in gear (forward), won't come out of forward-no neutral, no reverse. HELP. Also, can I change this control system to a different one (non-electric) without massive changes? My seloc manual gives me some ohmmeter checks and I will do that, BUT, I am a firm believer in -make it simple, smart. If this can be converted to a regular mechanical shift, I may go that way. Oh Yes, the boat and motor were left exposed to rain etc. (unknown to me) for the past 1 1/2 months with the battery connected. Did a solenoid get fried? A short? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Other than the electric shift this was a jewel of a purchase with a great motor, good boat & trailer for $1200.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

leaving the battery connected should not be a problem, you engine (elect. shift) automaticly devaults to forward, when the is no current to the shift coils. the engine has to be running to shift. if control is in neutral when the engine start it will go to neutral. the reason for this is that if there is a failure while boating you can make it back to the dock. it is convertible to a mechanical shift, but requires a donor lower unit and several other items. as long as you can keep it working i'd stay with what you have.

 

[newuserguy]

Re: 71 Johnson 50hp, electric shift

Tashasdaddy, Thank you (also for the posting info, boy, am I a dumb computer guy), but, The motor starts with the lever in nuetral, however it is in gear. I reviewed through a search the info by Joe Reeves on electric shifter and I understand the default to forward. My ? is, what is the cause of this problem? Would it be in the lower unit or could I just have a bad connection. How do I check it and are parts available for repair once I determine the problem? The control lever shifts fine but, as I said, it starts in nuetral or forward and stays there no matter where the shift/throttle lever is moved, forward-nuetral-reverse. The throttle works fine in both forward and reverse (I don't know if it starts with the lever in the reverse position, I didn't try). Obviously, the start-only-in-nuetral safety is not working. Any clues where to look/ Could the exposure to rain and weather for the past 1 1/2 months have shorted out something in the control box? All help will be greatly appreciated. I will continue to scan through my search of "electric shift" to see if I can find a similar problem and act accordingly. Oh yeah, is Joe Reeves still around? I see where he was the real pro with other ?'s involving electric shift units. Thanks again.