1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

[fire0501]

Hello I hope someone can help me with this issue. although I believe I will have to take apart this lower end. I guess I might just need to hear it before I do it lol. I had this motor on the lake today to launch and keep in mind I did just buy this boat cheaply so I dont know much of the history. It does have the hydro electric shift and all the checks check out good. I am under the understanding that without 12 volts to either solenoid (Green Wire) Neutral and blue Wire it will default into Forward. I disconnected the power to both wires and this thing will not come out of Reverse it seems to slip into reverse.

I took the Lower unit off and spin the drive shaft clockwise same as motor would and it starts to turn the prop clockwise which I believe is Forward and then you hear the gears change and the prop will switch to counter clockwise. Can someone help me figure out why this would happen?

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

Is your gearbox oil clean?
Those electric shifts can do all sorts if the proper oil isnt in there and clean, water intrusion will make the electrics go funny

 

[fire0501]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

I will have to check it

 

[fire0501]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

So I got the Problem Figured Out. I took the lower unit off the boat and pulled the solenoid cover off and it seems as though someone took it apart before and upon putting the solenoids back into the LU they put the spacer that is (supposed to go in between the two solenoids) and they put it on top of the upper solenoid and this caused there to be constant pressure on the rod which kept it engaged in Reverse. Phew... I was getting ready to tear the lower unit apart for what I was expecting to be a rebuild but looking into the solenoid cavity you can see the hydraulic pump and it is clean as ever in there. So Thats a good sign. I didnt have any of the type C Oil available So I used 90W I know I Know it too thick but I needed something in there to test it out I put it back together and got it on the muffs and now I have all three gears. What is the downside of using this oil other than maybe sluggish shifting?

 

[boobie]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

Get the type "C" into it as those l/u's required it by their design. Good job on trouble shooting.

 

[fire0501]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

Thanks Boobie, I will get the Type C or Premium blend in there asap.

 

[orbanp]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

Interesting what you say!
The gearbox is in forward (set by a spring) when no oil pressure is available. The solenoids only control the oil flow from the pump to the piston, and not the piston that moves the dog clutch.
Also, the manual suggests to adjust the plungers of the solenoids if they were disturbed.

Good luck, Peter

 

[F_R]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

He said "I took the Lower unit off and spin the drive shaft clockwise same as motor would and it starts to turn the prop clockwise which I believe is Forward and then you hear the gears change and the prop will switch to counter clockwise".

That seems to say it was defaulting to forward as it should.

 

[fire0501]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

No, when I had the issue The prop would spin counterclockwise because the shaft that runs through the 2 solenoids had pressure on it from the spacer being on top of the top pluger which puts it in reverse. There is no question I put this boat on the lake to launch and it would not come out of reverse nor would it go into neutral or forward. I took a pic of the way it was when I found it thinking I could use it for reference when I put it back together then once the solenoids were out of the lower unit I spun the upper drive shaft and thats when I noticed the prop was spinning in the proper clockwise direction. So I checked the manual and thats when I found out the spacer was in the wrong position. Ill Upload the pic of the way I found it in a minute

This is why I believe when I started to turn the upper drive shaft by hand that it started to go into forward until the hydrolic pressure build up enough to put it in reverse

 

[fire0501]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

That white spacer under that wavy washer was the culprit its supposed to be between the 2 solenoids

 

[boobie]

Re: 1971 Evinrude 60HP Stuck in reverse

Again, very good fire0501............