Re: 1972 johnson 65esl72s shift problem
Well after reading about 50 threads here about the hydro-electric shift system, it seems like my problem was tame compared to most. Special thanks to Joe Reeves for his concise and accurate description of how these work and how to troubleshoot for problems. Also thanks to all the experts who participate in this forum... you guys are above and beyond in your willingness to help us less experienced outboard owners, our boat would not be on the lake without your help here! And now for my simple but elegant solution. After doing the ohms and voltage checks it appears to me that the diode in the shift switch was no longer providing power to the neutral (green lead) when shifted to reverse. Instead of tearing apart the switch and rewiring (apparently someone did this) I decided to splice into the reverse (blue lead) and added a 50v 3 amp diode lead and spliced that to the neutral lead right where the leads come out of the existing switch. After doing the voltage check again I now have 12v to green in neutral only and 12v to both blue and green in reverse. Still functions like before it was broke with no danger! If anyone sees a potential problem with this fix please respond to this post and let me know, probably going to water test it this weekend. By the way this cost less than 3 bucks and 15 min of time to do!
