72 OMC No Shifting

[demsvmejm]

I am an automobile mechanic. One of my customers asked me to work on his '72 SlickCraft with an OMC power package. It is a 225hp GM 307cid V-8 with an electric shift outdrive. He said he was motor along, went to shift to Neutral and accidentally hit Reverse momentarily. His problem progressed from there to no Reverse just forward, and then no Forward or Reverse. My question is...
a)Is this a reversing polarity system, or two positive triggers with a common "chassis" ground?
and
b)Is there a most likely scenario of what happened? Or is it simply a coincidence?

Thank you for all the help. I am sorry to ask a commercial question but this is not my area of expertise, nor is it something I really want to do, but as my automotive customer, I feel kinda' obligated.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

Don't feel bad! That's what this forum is here for!

I'd like to give you some answers, but others are much more qualified... Give it a bit and you'll get some really good help here.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

I would back out of this as fast as I could.And I'll have been a marine mechanic for almost ..... well awhile.

Some guys thrive on what you have,And thrive to fix it.

My experience has been that by the time the boat is fixed (or not) your customer will dislike you as much as you HATE his boat.It will cost that much to fix.And that many hours.

One of the problems you may have is a broken clutch hub spring.It costs $337,if available.And you will be 3 or 4 hours to get to it,install it, and reassemble.Thats flat rate,and your customer has kept his vehicle in water (maybe even salt) instead of on 4 tires on dry land. And it is how old ?

Hope I don't discourage you,but Thanks for letting me vent.At least you know where I stand on stringer drives.

DHP

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

DHP,
That's kind of what I thought, but still my customer, my responsibility, right? Got burned REAL bad that way on an Audi. Still, it's a new adventure, so maybe I'll seek some more info and possibly a service manual.

Thanks again.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

Well look around a bit,and see what others say.I'm just giving my opinion and experience.I repaired these for years.

Hell,I'll even give you advice if I can,and I have yet to post 'I Told You So' on this board. (even when I could).GRIN

DHP

As an after thought,look at the steering cable.If it is bad,or getting that way,they are virtually impossible to get.Could be an issue when you charge $ ????.00 to fix the drive on a boat that won't steer.

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

I have conditioned my customer to the "customer will dislike you as much as you HATE his boat" but he still insists on wanting me to take a look at it. In fact his words were "Summer's not over yet." So can anyone help?

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

DHP, sorry I did not mean to imply that you didn't help. I just couldn't successfully use your recommendations to dissuade him. But I gues if I had an otherwise great condition (for its age) boat I would be hesitant to junk it too. Is there any possibility of putting a different outdrive on this without major mods?

 

[KaGee]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

IF you meant a Chevy 305 block, there would be the possibility of changing over to an 81-85 mechanical shift unit. It would require a lot of labor... so your no money ahead than fixing that drive. Just newer, more readily available parts.

You would be ahead if you could find a doner boat and swap over.

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: 72 OMC No Shifting

Thanks Kagee, the owners manual shoes only one engine for the 225hp power package and that is the 307cid GM. It is definately a GM engine and the outdrive has 225hp on a label on the housing like where the Mercruisers say Alpha One.