Re: "Master Bait'R" Restore Thread
anyone know anything about 70's model johnson's. I posted in the johnson/evinrude section with no response.
this is a 1970 115hp johnson. 115esl70d
It has been a few years but I became familiar with 1970's vintage lower units. When the motor isn't running it's default position is in forward. It is a complicated system but when it is right it is a very good system. There is actually two solenoids in the lower unit that control a hydraulic pump which drives a piston forward and back to engage the clutch dog, simple enought right

. There are two wires bundled together that some up out of the lower unit, each one engages one of the two solenoids. When the motor is in neutral, power is going to one solenoid that closes a valve for the hydraulic pump which builds pressure and pushes the shift dog aft to the middle position which is neutral. When power is going to both solenoids they both close valves in the pump which builds the pressure higher and pushes the shift dog further aft which is reverse. If no power is going to either solenoid the motor defaults to forward, this is nice because if all else fails in the system you can drive the boat home. The reason johnson went through so much trouble to accomplish this is to solve the operator error of grinding the clutch and gears from shifting too slowly, this system makes for accurate shifts. Unfortunately there are many points of potential failure. Johnson used this hydro electric system for the larger motors (lager 2 cylinder and all 3 and 4 cylinders models) during the 70's.
Earlier big evinrudes (60's) had an all electric system where the solenoid itself was in the bottom of the lower unit and slide the dog into and out of gear, no pump but a lot of fine metal windings that could break and lose your shifting ability. I have no personal experience with these.
Note: While you should never be in the water next to a running outboard in neutral, it is an especially bad idea next to one of these 70's models because if you lose power in the circuit the thing will go right into gear and we all know how unreliable wiring can be in the harsh marine environment.