convert to electric start - gear selector question

lotsofish

Cadet
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
19
I have a 78 Johnson 35hp motor I am converting to electric start. I have the bracket, starter motor and solenoid installed (tested off the motor and it works fine). The next step is to wire the thing up.

My question is this: If the motor is in gear, there is a plastic arm that moves that prevents the recoil from being pulled, so that the motor cannot be pull started while in gear. Is there also an electric circuit I should be tapping into that would prevent the starter motor from starting if the motor is in gear? It would be nice to have this so I couldn't accidentally start the motor while in gear.
 

countvlad

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
439
Re: convert to electric start - gear selector question

I have a 78 Johnson 35hp motor I am converting to electric start. I have the bracket, starter motor and solenoid installed (tested off the motor and it works fine). The next step is to wire the thing up.

My question is this: If the motor is in gear, there is a plastic arm that moves that prevents the recoil from being pulled, so that the motor cannot be pull started while in gear. Is there also an electric circuit I should be tapping into that would prevent the starter motor from starting if the motor is in gear? It would be nice to have this so I couldn't accidentally start the motor while in gear.

im not 100% positive whats your setup there but if you dont have anykind of a switch incorporated in your controls the only way to do what you wanna do is to include one....

on y boat before i can start the motor i have to pull a switch that complets the circuit before i can start the motor....

the only way you can do to prevent the motor from starting while in gear is again whith a switch that closes while in neutral and openes while in gear.. but i think your only going to have problems with it... good luck
 

lotsofish

Cadet
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
19
Re: convert to electric start - gear selector question

I forgot to mention this is a tiller motor. I don't know if it's built into the controls (the reverse/neutral/forward switch) or not. I think there are a couple wires that are nearby that switch so I'll try probing those. What I'm looking for is if there is a wire that is ground only when the switch in is neutral, or something like that.

If it's not possible, I'm not going to worry about it too much. Just gotta make sure the motor is in neutral so I don't get thrown out the back of the boat! :)

If anyone has the electric start from the factory, maybe they can tell me if it's set up to not start unless the gear is in neutral.
 
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