71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

[craigvalk]

Hi all:<br />Have a 1971 Johnson 60HP 3Cyl, electric shift. Model 60ESL71C.<br />Runs strong however when I first engage it in forward gear and accelerate, the drive unit slips, usually 2 or 3 times. After that I can run it wide open or any speed with no problems.<br />When I stop it will sometimes do it again. Sometimes not... but it does it most of the time. I have changed the lower end oil ( using proper type), and there is no water in the lower end or evidence of leakage.<br />Any suggestions as to the problem? Could it be the prop? <br />Thanks in advance<br /><br />Craig

 

[OBJ]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

Craig...could ya' be a little for specific in describing the "slip"?<br /><br />Darn near sounds like a spun hub but an intermittant spun hub is something I have yet to run across.<br /><br />When you engage forward gear, does the motor rev and you get nowhere fast?<br /><br />Could be the shift switch in the controls is starting to go south. Picks up sometimes and sometimes not. I have on a couple of occasions also run across a switch with a bent arm. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. If you have a Johnson control, the switch will be inside the control box.<br /><br />But....before tearing into it, do you have a service manual to troubleshoot with? Would be a big help.<br /><br />Do you have an volt/ohm meter to troubleshoot with? Please let us know and we can tell ya' what to check. Thanks.

 

[craigvalk]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

Thanks for the reply. I am fairly competent mechanically, do have the book and a meter.<br /><br />In terms of a better description.. sure!<br /><br />It does not slip and rev the engine, the drive always engages and stays engaged.... it's not like the engine revs up and the boat won't move.... it's more like a "slam"... a sudden violent slip under acceleration.. I don't think the drive is disengaging in this process..but I could be wrong!... and as I said it might do it 1 to 3 times on acceleration. So, it's throttle -bang / slam, bang/slam again and then it's fine till I stop again. You can really feel it, it shakes the boat.<br />When you mention spun hub, do you mean the prop hub? If it's helpful it's got an aluminum prop, when I got the boat the owner said it was new, and it looked new. ( might have been rebuilt, don't know at all) Have not hit anything big with it, I did 'ding' a rock in shallow water and it only put a very very small mark on one edge. But it was slipping like this before I dinged the prop anyway.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for any advice. It will be a week or 10 days before I try out any solutions offered, but I will post back at that time!!<br /><br />Craig

 

[OBJ]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

Craig.....<br /><br />Here is something to try. Make a reference mark on the prop hub. This should be from the hub to the metal part of the prop. Use marker that won't wash off easily. When the engine goes through one of the "slips", pull the prop and look at the reference mark. If the marks no longer line up, then the hub is slipping. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[TimW]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

Sounds similar to what my '72 100hp johnny does. Mine usually accelerates and gets on plane okay, but then 2 or 3 times within the first 5 minutes of running on plane it will act up like Craig's engine. Slip/slam pretty much characterizes it. I'm pretty sure it's not a backfire or a spun prop. More like the ignition cuts out for a half second and then cuts back on. It will then usually run all day without doing it again.<br /><br />In my case, the engine definently does not rev up during the slip...more like it just dies and then wakes up with a slam.

 

[craigvalk]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

Hi OBJ... very late response to a thread I started last September. Winter came and I could not test further.<br />If you read back through these posts....I have eliminated the prop as the source of the problem. ( replaced it). So I know I don't have a spun hub. I don't believe the problem is in the control box, have inspected it and tested it with a meter, and all seem well.<br />I also metered out the shift solenoids and they are ok too.<br />Like I mentioned I never get a symptom after the boat is up to power... it shifts fine forward and reverse.. gotta be something mechanical at this point. <br />Rather than deal with tearing into the unit, I am leaning towards looking for a used lower unit. I see them from time to time on ebay.. A question on interchangeability... from my manual I am guessing that the 70-71 60HP and 68-69 50 HP lower units are the same. There are other engines using this specific Type V electric shift unit, however only the 2 models I noted have identical gear lube capacities.. other models differ in this respect.. so I am guessing there are differences in lower units? I don't wish to get a lower unit for, say, a 72 65 horse and have it not fit. Are 'all' the electric shift lower units the same, is the question. I suspect not.<br />My Seloc manual has the service processes for this lower unit, that's where I am getting this data from.<br /><br />One final question.. dealing with the wires running to the lower unit concerns me... do these come out easily from the top end when you pull down the lower unit? A friend told me he broke his wires when pulling the unit off, they did not slide out easily through the tube from the top side. Any tips for easing this process?<br /><br />Thank you much... I may have more questions later.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: 71 Johnson, 60hp, electric shift, drive slips?

yes a 65 hp 3 cyl will work as long as its a hydro electric.... aslo a 2 cylinder 50hp will fit, but will have diff gear ratios and driveshaft may be diff lenght, but you can swapp shafts<br /><br />i have same problem with my 50hp 1972, ... turns out ive been chewing gears..<br /><br />change you lower unit oil and watch it to see if it sparkles... mine looked like glitter, i go a new unit on ebay for 70$ plus shipping<br /><br />m ikey