johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

[jay_merrill]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

What other control box did you hook up to it? Was it the Chrysler box? If so, how did you do that, since the plugs would not be compatible.

Most likely, the eason why the motor won't shut down when you turn the key off, is because you don't have the yellow/black wire on the powerpack hooked up to an appropriate circuit.



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[bagnallt]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

You cannot use the 50hp control on the 60hp motor and visa versa.
I have the very same 50 hp. Make sure you check to make sure the kill switch is off. even if you jump the selinoid and the kill switch is there it will turn the motor but it wont fire.
As for low turning speed when you tr to crank that could be the starter motor itself. Make sure he conections to the starter are clean. It may also mean that the starter needs to be rebuilt or replaced.
I suggest you start at the control unit and work through. It could be that your seleniods in the hydro electric are bad and the motor wont start in forward.

 

[Reigel1]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

ok i took the control from the 50 hp off it is johnson hydro electric drive. there are 11 wires in it. and upon inspection i noticed that the inside of it is rusted past repair i think due to water laying in there most of it is rotted away. i cut the cable about 2 feet from the box and stripped and put connectors on all 11 wires individually.I then took the control unit from my 60 hp johnson and did the exact same thing with connectors.there are 10 wires in that control box i matched up all 10 wires from the 60 control box to the 50 motor by color code and it fired right upand ran very nicely but it will not shut off when the key is turned off. there is 1 extra wire from the 50 and it is black with yellow stripe on it this may be why it dosent shut off but im not sure. everything seems alright except shutting the motor off. so any ideas???

 

[phipps]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

As far as it not turning off....sounds like the blocking diode in the control box is bad, if you have one. I know my 71 60hp Johnson does.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

OK, so its a 60hp Johnson that you have, not a Chrysler.

The control box for your 60hp Johnson probably has a black plug. Generally speaking, it is not compatible with your 1972, 50hp motor. That is not to say that most of the circuits will not perform the same functions, but there are differences. Exactly what those are, I'm not sure, because I don't have a service manual for the 60hp motor. As much as I hate Clymer and Seloc manuals, one good thing about them, is that they tend to have a lot of wiring diagrams in them. Perhaps you can find one for the 60hp and one for the 50hp, so that you can compare them.

One difference that I'm reasonably sure of, is that the 60hp motor did not come with a control box that has a neutral safety switch for the starter. Your 1972 50hp does and the reason why you had problems engaging the starter solenoid was most likely because that switch was defective. Since the later box doesn't (I think) have the feature, that problem is not an issue at this point.

I don't think, however, that the wire color will be any different between the two control boxes. OMC used white wiring for its starter circuits pretty consistently, so I think yours will be white, regardless of whether there is a neutral safety switch in the circuit.

As for the black/yellow wire, the fact that you don't have it connected to anything, is why your motor won't shut down when you turn the key off. That circuit is a ground for the powerpack - when the key is in the run position, the ground circuit is open and when when it is in the off position, the circuit is closed, grounding the powerpack. The black/yellow circuit should be connected to the "M" terminal on the key switch.

I'd love to hear from F R on this issue, because he knows the older OMC motors very well, but I am going to guess that the reason why the 60hp control box doesn't have a black/yellow wire to match up, is because it has a different ignition system. That motor uses points, a distributor, an amplifier and a single ignition coil, to provide ignition. Electrically speaking, I'm not sure how that motor shuts down, but its apparently not via a black/yellow grounding circuit.

Try connecting the black/yellow circuit to the "M" terminal on the key switch and see if that solves your shutdown problem.



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[phipps]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

I have a wiring diagram for the 60hp that I can send you. Not sure if it will help with the 50hp problems, but might help show wiring differences.

FWIW, the 60hp has a neutral safety switch, sort of anyway. It is on the distributor base.

 

[oldfart69]

Re: johnson 50 hp hydro electric problems Please HELP

The next thing is to stop calling it a relay - its a starter solenoid. The reason why I am being insistent about this, is that you have to try to use correct terminology, so that people understand what you are talking about.

After that, try to be precise in explaining what you did. When you say that you measured 0 voltage on the starter, or downline side, of the solenoid, with the key switch "on," do you mean merely in the "run" position or the "start position."

If the key switch was only in the "run" position, you would not get voltage on the downline side of the solenoid. On the other hand, if you did turn the key all the way to the spring loaded, "start" position and did not get voltage on the downline side, you have a problem. If this happened with two different solenoids, you could have a problem prior to the solenoid.

Since you were getting solenoid clicking at one point and are getting nothing now, the first thing that I would check is the inline fuse, which should be located on the starboard side of the powerhead. I don't have a manual on your motor, so I can't tell you exactly where it is, but its probably right above the powerpack (rectangular box with wires on both sides) and near the wiring terminal block. Look for an oblong rubber casing that comes apart - the fuse will be inside.

If the fuse is blown, replace it with the correct 20 amp fuse. Its very short, so I don't know if you can get it in an auto parts store. If so, your best bet will probably be a NAPA store, because they do stock some OMC marine parts. Otherwise, you will have to find an OMC/BRP dealer or some other source of OMC parts.

If the solenoid tries to work after you have replaced the fuse, but still clicks, go back to F R's advice. Solenoid clicking is a sure sign that not enough amperage is flowing to fully actuate it. That comes from either a weak battery or corroded connections. If you need to clean the the battery cable connections, clean all of them, including the ground wire connections. Don't forget the cable between the solenoid and the starter. The starter grounds via the mounting bolts and you may even have to remove one or both of the bolts to clean it/them and the surface of the starter flange(s).

Do all of this and let us know how you are making out.



???

Hi,

I have the exact problem with my johnson 50 hp (same model as described in this thread).
I have followed these directions. from this point my results are - no voltage on downline side when I turn the ignition
to start. The choke toggle under the ignition key does work in either start or run. please advise on my next step.

Thanks!