1972 85 hp hydroelectric shift

"Hello,

I hope you can help

"Hello,

I hope you can help me. I have a 1972 Johnson 85 hp outboard with hydroelectric shift. Model number 85ESL72. The switch that sends a charge to the blue and green wires went bad, so I rigged up saomething external to do the job. I hooked up a double switch and mounted it next to the throttle control. I also put a cover over it, so as not to accidentally hit a switch and somehow change from forward to reverse while under power. I set it up so that when the left switch is up and the right is down, a positve charge is sent to the green wire, putting the lower unit in neutral. When the right hand switch is flipped up along with the left, a charge is sent to the blue wire along with the green wire putting the lower unit in reverse. When both switches are in the down position, the lower unit is in forward. For some reason, the engine always cranks in gear when I try to start it. When the engine starts, it will immediately go to neutral if the switches are set that way, but when the switches are set for neutral, when I turn the engine off, the lower unit immediately jumps to forward. This makes the outboard very hard to turn over and I believe has contributed to a failure of my starter. Is there anything I can do that will make the lower unit stay in neutral after I turn off the key? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

Andrew"

Nothing can be done.Forward is

Nothing can be done.Forward is it when the motor is not running.Look for the shift diodes and test them.

"There is supposed to be a set

"There is supposed to be a setup applying battery voltage to the green wire until the engine catches. This would shift the gearcase to neutral as soon as the key is turned on. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I would imagine Joe Reeves will be along shortly with the answer!"

"Thanks Bob, but the diodes wo

"Thanks Bob, but the diodes work fine or it wouldn't shift at all. It is my understanding it defaults to forward when there is a problem."

"No, it is in forward when the

"No, it is in forward when the engine is NOT running.The oil pump that provides oil pressure must be turning in order for this thing to shift!!!!!"

If you have nuetral with the m

If you have nuetral with the motor stopped then the lower unit needs to come apart for repairs!!!!------- A lower unit in good repair will go from from forward to nuetral after the starter turns the flywheel one revolution!!!!!!