1971 Johnson 50 voltage to shift wires

[Jconnell43]

Just changed water pump ( working now ) and may have screwed up shifter wires when pulling through to make connection at engine.

Also opened up shifter box in a misguided attempt to add tach to switch, tach wires were cut off at tach when I got it.
Switch rotates when I turn it even after tightening plastic nut that is supposed to keep it in one place.

Motor in tub, prop off:
Runs great but will not shift out of forward gear, I realize that this means no voltage to either wire.

Coming from the plug, engine and switch off, shifter in neutral I get
Green Wire .3V
Blue Wire 75V

With switch on, engine off and in neutral I get the same

When running, shifter in neutral I get
Green wire 6.7V
Blue wire all over the place from neg to positive 110V

Have tried putting 12V from starter solenoid to both wires but no change.

1. Should I open electric shift box and look for shorts
or
2.Remove lower unit again and look for shorts in wires from top unit down to solenoids.
Any way to test solenoids while lower unit is o

 

[jbuote]

Not an expert, but I have a 71 50hp as well.

​Without taking off lower unit,
​I'd check continuity of the wires going to the lower unit. to see if you have a short now..
(With battery disconnected)
​At the knife connectors where you disconnect to remove lower unit, one at a time, green then blue..
From wire to ground should be approx 5-6 ohms..
​If 0, you have a short.

​This new to you or have you ever had it running?
​
​(Added with edit)
LOL.. Nevermind.. Thought your name looked familiar!

​Since you think you may have damaged the wires with impellor change, check the above first, and we'll go from there..

 

[yorab]

I don't know your motor, but should you be running the engine with the prop off, even just for testing? Wouldn't that make a runaway condition even more likely?

 

[jbuote]

No, it wouldn't (At least not as far as I know.. lol )
​You start in Neutral anyway, so prop isn't spinning.. No load from prop..
​Just don't run above idle (high idle for start) on muffs or in barrel and it should be fine..
​That's the general rule of thumb even if the prop is installed..

 

[F_R]

The blue wire voltages you quoted are virtually impossible. You only have battery voltage available (around 12V), so it cannot be higher than that. EDIT: Well I suppose you could see AC voltages around 100V if the charging system isn't working. But not DCV. I'd have to think about that a bit.

To check the voltages, you should check at the knife connectors at the engine without disconnecting the connectors.

 

[F_R]

No Title

OK, I suggest you disconnect and isolate the purple/green stripe wires from the terminal strip at the motor, then check the voltages as I outlined above. That will prevent any feed from the alternator, just in case there is a problem in that area.

 

[Jconnell43]

These are all good tips, thanks to all, I'm wondering if my rotating ignition switch is starting the problem.
Thanks to F_R for the terrific schematic, it's the best one I've seen and I have looked.

 

[Jconnell43]

No Title

Took apart shift box, cleaned all terminals and rewired, that part is done.

Pulled lower unit, shifter wires had broken about 3" from solenoid box, apparently got too aggressive in pulling wires up to upper unit, wires broke at clamp.

Wires have been spliced a few times already.
Questions:

1.Solenoid wires are not green or blue, they are both black, does it make any difference which one I regard as the blue or green wire?
Can I tell them apart by which side of the solenoid box they are on?

2. Best way to make strong splice?
I'm thinking heat shrink butt splice connectors covered with heat shrink tubing in correct colors.Also putting little pieces of heat shrink in blue and green on the wires all the way to the top.

Thanks to all on the forum who have helped!

 

[F_R]

Upper solenoid is Neutral (Green Wire), lower solenoid is Reverse (Blue Wire). Yeah, I know, both are active for reverse.

Good luck with your splices. I've never had any luck with that. Maybe now that they are almost unobtainable, somebody will come up with a way.

 

[Jconnell43]

When you say upper solenoid and lower, how can I tell them apart?

 

[jbuote]

As far as the splicing goes,

Know how to solder?
When I'm making splices in a wire like that, I tend to use the "Lineman's Splice". It's a pretty good one if you know how to solder...
​Put some shrink tubing on the wires, wind them together and solder, heat shrink...

​Tried to find a good pic to show how to wind them together, but not sure if they are copyrighted or not...
Google Lineman's Splice and you'll see what I mean..

​There may be better ways, but it's what I use and so far so good.. lol

 

[F_R]

Trouble is, the wires might be stainless steel (?). Unsolderable if they are.