help with hydroelectric shift switch

mnmurphy

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Jun 30, 2008
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10
my electric shift switch has been fried on my 72 100hp johnson outboard. i find these are hard to come by... but have read that a 3 way toggle switch can be used instead. does anyone know if this will actually work or should i hold out and hope to find the correct switch? thanks
 

R.Johnson

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Sep 24, 2003
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4,446
Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

If you can, go with the originol switch. I know people have done it, but that toggle switch on the dash is an accident waiting to happen. One of my little grand kids' would see to that.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

very true, there is a disclaimer in the thread.
 

mnmurphy

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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

thank you all for the help. now that ive read into it some more, it doesnt seem like a very bright thing to do.... not to mention my daughters would surely try to play with it. a nearby "mechanic" told me i cant replace my box with an evinrude push button console... that they arent compatible. is this true as well?
 

R.Johnson

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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

No! it is not true, The box from a hydro-electric engine will work, It's just that there box used an exsposed switch with 3 buttons.
 

patrick4266

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Nov 29, 2007
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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

i have a 1972-85 hp evinrude and it uses the selectric controls which is the push button. I believe it would work on yours too.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

the switches and boxes were different, but both will work. they do the same thing. just different designs.
 

patrick4266

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Nov 29, 2007
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591
Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

Just curious, do they use the same plug to plug into the motor wiring harness?
 

mnmurphy

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Jun 30, 2008
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Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

okay now im confused... i decided to use a toggle switch until i can find the correct switch i need. but all the directions i have found about rigging up a toggle switch only talks about green, blue, and battery wires... i have wires coming off the original switch. 2 white, green, purple, and blue.... how am i supposed to hook all this up?
 

R.Johnson

Rear Admiral
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
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4,446
Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

Those wires' keep the engine from lurching into forward when you shut the key off, just amongst other features that toggle switch won't have. That's just one of the reason's we told you not to do that.
 

larky

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 23, 2006
Messages
304
Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

I thought I read in another thread about a 1972 hydroelectric shift, that the white wire was for the "start in neutral only" feature, not present in the 1971 models.
 

jay_merrill

Vice Admiral
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Re: help with hydroelectric shift switch

I believe that the confusion on the pushbutton type controls is that there is an ERude version, designed for the hydroelectric shift that works fine, and there are other OMC pushbutton controls that were designed for other motors. which won't work. You just have to make sure that you have the right one. One way to tell is that the plug on the end of the wiring for the hydroelectric shift model will be yellow if it is the original item.

Be careful of trying to rig your own system with a toggle switch because there is, indeed, a lockout circuit that prevents to motor from being started in gear. There is also a blocking diode in the circuitry that needs to be included in any home made design.

You may find the following link to be informative but please read the whole thing because it took us awhile (and a few mistakes) to get the system completely figured out.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=240278+1972+johnson+shift+switch
 
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