Re: Omc Sterdrive no forward, just reverse gear
The answers that you are getting are all spot on.
You should not be able to start up in gear, for your safety.
Your switches must be heavy enough to handle the current of continuously energized magnet.
you should not rig some switches that may give you forward and reverse at the same time.
I understand that you want to find out if the magnets/gears are toast, or if the switch is infact shot, before spending $ on the switch.
Try this, as a diagnostic approach. I do this when ever I work on any of the three lowers that I have for my boat. With every thing electrically dead on the boat, all batt switches off, take a 12v battery over to your prop. Ground the neg terminal to you out drive.
Undo the green and blue wires at the butterfly/ rubber boot in above the tilt motor, inside the engine compartment. use a jumper wire from the green wire to touch to the positive of the bat. You may hear the gear move in. turn the prop by hand. It should lock up one way.
take the jumper off the pos terminal. prop should be free both ways again.
Put the jumper to the blue wire. go back to prop. touch the jumper to the positive terminal, again turn the prop. It should be locked up the other way.
If all of this happens, at least the mags are working, and the gears move.
Now isolate your shift system. Put the shifter in nuetral and find the 12v wire that feeds the switch. feed it 12 volts. check green and blue. you should have nothing at either one.
put it in forward, and check the green wire, you should have 12v there. nothing on blue. put it in reverse and check blue. you should have 12v there and nothing on green.
These two steps should really help you find the problem.