[texascoastalfish]

Hey yall,

Just picked up a 1979 Viking V-16SI Sportdeck for a song. Nice little Deck boat for the Lake house. It has a 1969 Evinrude 85 hp. I've researched this forum and it has the Hydro Electric shift technology. Forward and neutral are Smooth enough. Reverse weak, by weak I mean when it went into reverse I did not feel that little clunk and then move in reverse. It just started to very slowly move in reverse, no where near enough to slow you down if you needed to stop from hitting a dock or any other normal use for revers. It SLOWLY pulled me away from trailer when launching. Wondering if there is an adjustment or maybe weak connection to solenoid. I understand it needs to wires hot with 12v for reverse to function. Any advice is appreciated greatly !

Thanks !

P.S. In looking under hood and seller stating his buddy(former owner) had 600 bucks of work on motor last year. It looks like a new Amp, plugs, wires and generally clean condition. It started right up and jumped up on plane and then topped around 35-37. Prop is dinged and needs replacing so I figured that was fast enough for now ! 550 dollars for the whole deal w/trailer so I cant lose money and now have a nice little boat, will look into replacing carpet and possibly a bit of flooring( Ive read on those sections and am good with that)
There is a bunch of wiring that has battery connections, but Im not sure where they go on battery posts. For Sea trials I just used 2 main connections so I don't have any light, bilge, fuel gauge etc

Regards !

[tashasdaddy]

reverse is not a brake, never approach something faster than you are will to hit it. thats the nature of the beast.

[Silvertip]

The design of a propeller is to move one forward as efficiently as possible. That means the prop is not very efficient in reverse.

[F_R]

If it is going into reverse and is not making grinding noises, that is all there is. It is either in gear or it isn't. It will tend to suck exhaust gasses back into the prop when running in reverse, which sort of kills the reverse thrust.

[WaterWitch2]

My old 1968 Johnson 85 HP electric shift had a weak reverse also. When I put a Doel Fin on it, it improved the reverse quite a bit.

[tashasdaddy]

good iboaters, don't use those things.

[texascoastalfish]

Ok thanks for the quick responses. I just remember my '90 115 Merc would clunk into reverse and if you gave it a little goose it would stop pretty quick ( going slow of course) Ill check closer for grinding. It didnt sound like it. When Out of water it did go into reverse so it must be a combo of prop and design thanks to all that posted !