1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

[bryan51479]

i have had this motor for years and never had any problems with it until this year. i got the boat out started it up and it will shift into forward gear without warning. it doesnt do it all the time which makes me think its grounding out some where. but i am trying to avoid dropping the lower unit. i changed the lower unit oil yesterday with quick silver premium blend oil and that didnt help.i know its not the switch because sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. if it was the solenoid it would stay in forward hear all the time correct? so what do i do now.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

Is that the correct oil for an eletric shift lower unit? I'm not familar with quick silver premium blend oil. I know that those units need Type C oil.

 

[bryan51479]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

when i called i told the guy exactly what type of oil i needed. and he said what he gave me was it. i guess i can call around and make sure.

 

[bryan51479]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

does anybody know where i can get this type "C" oil?

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

The "Premium Blend" gearlube, also known as "Type C" gearlube can only be purchased at a Evinrude or Johnson dealership to my knowledge, and perhaps Sierra. If it can be purchased elsewhere, I am unaware of it.

I suspect that the premium gearlube you purchased from the Mercury dealership is simply a higher quality of gearlube for the mechanical shift units (my opinion, not a certainty). If so, this heavier gearlube would result in the problem you describe.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

The Merc "Premium" gear lube should be their basic/lower grade of lube. Their good stuff is called "High Performance" gear lube. Both are for mechanical shift lowers only. Get the lube Joe recommends.

 

[boobie]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

Sounds to me like you have a loss of power going to the solenoids at times and its defaulting to forward gear. Get the correct oil in it and try it again. Sometimes the switch works and some times not????

 

[bryan51479]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

i got the correct oil in it. but it still is defaulting to forward gear. but its not doing it all the time. i am going to check the voltage and OHM's this weekend. a little back ground on this. i got the motor from my father and it needed a new empeller. so we puled the lower unit. to do this we had to cut the wires. i know it is supposed to have the knife conections but it looks as though somebody had already hard wired it all the way to the power head. we replaced the empeller and made some water tight connections. but we also put about 4-5 inches of slack just incase we ever had to pull the lower unit again. and it was working great year before last when it was on a different boat. that boat was replaced because the beams in it roted out. and once i placed the motor on the new boat is when this problem started to occur. hopefully this will help diagnose my problem.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

You state " once i placed the motor on the new boat is when this problem started to occur."

To do this, the wiring was disturbed.

When in neutral or reverse, without disconnecting the shift wires at the engine that lead to the lower unit BUT rather have the wire exposed so that you can take a voltage reading.... engine NOT running but of course having the key ON so that the shift switch has voltage applied to it.

The voltage being measured at the point mentioned above should be a full 12 volts, not 9 or 10 volts. If not a full 12 volts, therein lies your problem (voltage drop) which is usually caused by a failing shift switch but could also be caused by corroded connections, faulty wiring, etc. Make sure the battery is good and fully charged when doing this test.

In NEUTRAL = 12 volts to Green wire
In REVERSE = 12 volts to both Green & Blue wires.
In FORWARD = No voltage to either wire.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

Is the excess slack wiring coiled up inside the midsection? Next to the hot exhaust housing?

 

[bryan51479]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

the excess wiring was left in the exhaust housing yes. it sounds as though i need to pull the lower unit and replace the wiring from the lower unit to the knife connections. and be done with it. and if that doesnt work pull it off and get another motor.

 

[bryan51479]

Re: 1972 100 HP starflite evinrude

UPDATE: i found the problem. one of the cremp connectors from the previous repair that we made pulled lose and was only making contact some of the time. the plan now is for me to go back and actually solder the connections together and cover them up with heat shrink until i can get another wiring harness.