Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

Hi guys,,,
Well Having sorted out my running problems.... motor starts and runs great idles beautifully I have encountered a new problem. It wont go into neutral or reverse. It worked fine until i moved it over to a different boat it shifted well.... But now it wont go into neutral or reverse. It runs forward and at quite a speed. It wont start if the throtle lever is pushed forward I kow this is correct.
This is what I did
I moved the motor over to a different boat. MY speed problem was due to waterlogged foam so i got a different boat.
Well all went kind of well with the move over to the newer boat. Except.. I have now a new problem.
The remote control was stiff and sticking. i dont know why I just moved it over after disconnecting the plug from the motor and the throttle cable.
I looked in sde found a loose screw tightened it. Put it together and I couldnt mover the throttle to reverse then it jammed forward. The motor would go into reverse and neutral. However... I managed to fix the lever so that it moved forwards and backwards.... However now it wont change gear. I tested the switch in the control and it was ok.
I have tested the selinoids as per previous posts they work...
I am at a loss .. I guess theres a problem with the wiring.
I am waiting my repair manual for the motor.. Its gonna be a week.. yikes...
Do the wires when they come out of the lower unit into the engine remain the same color all the way to the switch in the control... ???
also .. I kow this sounds like a dumb question.. but wiring harness plug how does it push together, totally flush?, I cant push mine together any closer
but it doesnt seem to push all the way in..

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

Your aware the engine has to be running to shift? When you had the control box apart, did you get the shift switch roller back in it's groove? Do you mean the throttle lever was hard, or stiff to move after you put it together?

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

I don't know where the problem is, but to answer your specific questions:
Yes the wires are the same color all the way forward--green for neutral and both green and blue for reverse.

No, the big plug doesn't go all the way as far as the ridges on it are concerned. If it goes far enough to get the clip on it, it's OK.

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

Hi ... F R. the plug goes in and is held by the clip.. So thats ok.
Rj... Yep the knew it had to be running to shift, it was fine shifting, and the control box was fine, until I moved the motor to the newer boat.
Then throttle lever was difficult to move forwards and wouldnt move to the reverse possition, so i opened it and there was a loose screw not fully out .. which i tightened. It was stil very difficult to move forward and back. So i looked again i dont know what i did but now it moves like it did before. but it does increase the forward speed a lot earlier as it moves forward.
Do you mean the roller on the switch at the bottom or the roller that fits in the groove in the middle of the control unit. both are in the groove.
I will trace the wires back and check for breaks... ...
Fun motors art they .. Not

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

If the solenoids work and the switch in the control units works, you have a break in continuity somewhere between the two. I would start with the plug simply because that would be the most obvious possibility. Did you have trouble disconnecting it? Could there be a broken wire? Could it be that you just need to clean the contacts (pins and receptacle) on the two connector halves? Also, since the problem is with both neutral and reverse, your problem may be with only one of the circuits and that would be the one that is used for both shift positions.

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

Disconnect the knife connectors where the shift wire's go into the exhaust housing. Hook a volt meter to each wire from the control box, and shift the throttle lever back, and forth.

Re: Johnson electric shift 1972 50hp starts in forward not neutral or reverse

Hi Guys.

Thanks for all your help... I found what the problem was. And I know have a great shifting motor. To be honest its better than before.
Ok heres what happened. When i moved the motor over my 5 year old son desided to help when i was putting the cable from the control at the front of the boat to the engine. He grabbed the plug and pulled. Only one connector came off and that was one from a relay. I put the spade connector back on the relay. So today I changed the oil in the lower unit just incase that was part of the problem and it needed to be changed anyway. And I desided to check the whole of the cable as i knew the selinoids and switch checked out ok. as i worked along the cable i reached the relay and checked it.. Low and behold I found that i had put the wire on the wrong connection. I put it on the right connector and tried the motor and Low and Behold it worked.. Better than ever no clunking very very smooth change from forward to neutral and to reverse.
Thanks to ever one for their input and I appreciate all your help!!