1969 Evinrude 55hp Triumph ... Please help, strange electrical issue

[gixxerking63]

Hello, I recently acquired a Johnson/ Evinrude 55hp Triumph with electric shift. While I am no expert at outboard motors I have rebuilt a few in my day. Unfortunately this particular outboard has me baffled.

When I first got it I noticed that all the wiring on it had been recently redone. While the wiring in the motor seemed pristine and possibly professionally done the wiring in the boat left much to be desired. Any who, I attempted to start it but I didn't even get a click from the starter solenoid.

So after some diagnosing with a voltmeter I deemed that the culprit. I ran down to the auto parts store and matched it up with an old Ford starter solenoid and wired it up. With the new solenoid I was able to actuate the starter however the gear would not remain engaged to the flywheel. Come to find out only if the starter gear was placed on the flywheel, before actuating the starter, it would remain engaged.

Anyway I attempted to check the shift solenoid with the motor off right after having tested the starter and the solenoid. I clicked the switches on the remote assembly with the motor off, then reset it to neutral and reattempted to start the motor and again got nothing. I went through and checked everything with the voltmeter again and it seems as if the brand new starter solenoid had already burnt out. Is there a faulty ground that could be the cause of this or a safety switch of some sort. I don't really quite understand how the electric shift works on these motors and in which way it may limit them. All I know is that the outboard cannot shift gears without the motor running because it works of oil pressure. Any kind of advice or guidance in some sort of direction would be much appreciated.

By the way I am a newbie on this forum so please bear with me as I learn the lay of the land. I look forward to getting to know everyone here.

 

[stevenvalerie]

Re: 1969 Evinrude 55hp Triumph ... Please help, strange electrical issue

When you say "I clicked the switches on the remote assembly with the motor off, then reset it to neutral and reattempted to start the motor and again got nothing." does that mean the motor wouldnt even turn over? If the motor is not turning over at all then I would suspect a problem with the remote controls. Most of the time, if the remote control is "in gear" then the motor will not turn over at all.

If the motor is not turning over, do you get any sound at all. Like the starter spinning freely and not engagin?

 

[gixxerking63]

Re: 1969 Evinrude 55hp Triumph ... Please help, strange electrical issue

Thank you for all your help. I seem to have solved that problem. It turned out being that the starter solenoid was not properly ground to the motor. However upon solving that quandry I unfortunately unveiled an array of problems.

1. When starting the motor the starter does not engage the flywheel. It clinks against it and then spins freely. However when I manually engage the starter gear to the flywheel it remains engaged and successfully turns the motor. Is this a failing starter mechanism?

2. It seems to be getting no spark at all. My method of testing was simply grounding then plugs to the block while cranking but I seem to get nothing. All the wiring on the motor as well as the amplifier seem brand new, also when the key is in the on or start position you can hear a ticking noise coming from the amplifier area. I assume that is it working correctly but i really don't know any better. Any ideas what could be causing this lack of spark?

3. There seems to be no fuel delivery while starting. The carbs look clean and they were bone dry when I got the boat, however I have been told the motor has not been started since last season. Anyway when i was priming it with fuel everything seemed fine. There were no leaks and you can hear the fuel making its way through all the passages until the primer bulb was hard. However after removing the spark plugs after my failed starting attempt I could tell it was not getting fuel to the cylinders as the plugs were bone dry. Could this be caused by fuel pump or dirty carbs? I can tell the gaskets. Are in fairly decent shape as well as no fuel leaks being a good indicator as well.

4. Lastly I have no idea how to test or diagnose the electric shift, and it seems as if it's stuck in forward. Because the prop cannot be turned freely and spins during cranking. However when pushing the shifter switchess as well as the black circular switch on e side of the block I can hear a solenoid being actuated.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank You!!!

 

[husqvarna250]

Re: 1969 Evinrude 55hp Triumph ... Please help, strange electrical issue

if u havent figure it out i can send pictures of were the wire goes on the controle. when the motor is off it will be in foward. when the key is on. u should here it goin in foward reverse. but if the wires are miss placed u wont have neutrual