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Hydro Electric Shift

Shifts on a flushette... Won't shift in the water?

In the water, disconnect the wires that lead to the lower unit. Apply 12v directly from the battery to the wires that lead to the lower unit via a jumper wire.

If the shift works okay, the problem is between that connection and the hsift switch.

If the shift is still faulty, the problem is with the lower unit wiring.
 
joereeves said:
Shifts on a flushette... Won't shift in the water?

In the water, disconnect the wires that lead to the lower unit. Apply 12v directly from the battery to the wires that lead to the lower unit via a jumper wire.

If the shift works okay, the problem is between that connection and the hsift switch.

If the shift is still faulty, the problem is with the lower unit wiring.
Click to expand...

Shifts on a flushette and in large bucket of water. I'll try what you're recommending tomorrow morning Joe. I have to admit it was nice to see nice crystal clean gear case fluid when I cracked the drain screw in the gear case to check for water. Atleast that problem seems to be solved. Can you rebuild the wire harness if it is rotted down to the solenoid? I'll post my findings. Thanks for all the great advice!
 
Morning. I tested the green/blue lead with a jumper as per your instructions Joe. On land it works fine with the jumper, just like advertised, but as soon as it goes in the water it stays in forward gear. So it looks like the problem is in the LU. I'll take the lower off and see if there anything obvious going on. Hopefully is its a broken wire or a bad connection. The hydraulic side of things seems to be working as advertised, so we'll have to see. Does anyone have a schematic for the lower end for this units? Any ideas on testing the wire harness for shorts? I remember working on cars in the past with similar problems, worked find as with no load, then as soon as you turned on something it would stall out. Problem was the harness couldn't handle the amps required in it's rotted condition. Thinking it may be something similar in this instance. How many amps are drawn to run the shift change anyway? Good times in the Maratimes! I am missing something obvious here....ground etc etc?
 
Just pulled the LU. So fire the wires look fine. The oil was a bit darker though. No water, just dirty. Still translucent, but no longer a nice light amber. Could this cause the hesitation to shift under load? This far I've been flushing the gear case with Dex 3 each time after water got in there until the seal were sorted out. Is there anything that might be better to flush it out with to clean it? I think I've read you can use gas/kerosene but I'd like to here that from somebody with a little more experience than me. Thanks again for all the tips and advice!
 
Did you do the test on the water, where you are having the issue, as Joe suggested?
From your wording it doesn't sound like you did but I can't tell?

On land it works fine with the jumper, just like advertised, but as soon as it goes in the water it stays in forward gear.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, i tested it in the water, and on the landed. Pulled the solenoid cover off and solenoids are working fine, correct resistance, 6 ohms on each solenoid, wires look good. Putting it back together looks like it may be fun. There's no adjusting it when you put it back in is there? Silly question but had to ask.

ko4nrbs, I think the problem is in the LU (as per joe's post), because when the remote is taken out of the equation the problem is still there.
 
cocoabailey said:
Yes, i tested it in the water, and on the landed. Pulled the solenoid cover off and solenoids are working fine, correct resistance, 6 ohms on each solenoid, wires look good. Putting it back together looks like it may be fun. There's no adjusting it when you put it back in is there? Silly question but had to ask.

ko4nrbs, I think the problem is in the LU (as per joe's post), because when the remote is taken out of the equation the problem is still there.
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Hey there all. New development. After much searching, reading, and investigating I think I might have this nod sorted out. I went foam to the local boat shop and was throwing around dome ideas. They said if yhs harness looked good then if was likely the screen was plugged in the LU. So I went home and prepped myself for tearing apart thd gear cas's to get at the screen. I thought before I do that I'll take one more closer look at thd harness. Sure enough there were a couple of splits, which makes sends why it would work on the snorkel/bucket but not on the lake (brackish wate). The salty water must have shorted out the solenoids each time we put her in the water; which explains the way it was working. I've got it fixed up do there should be no salt water getting at it now. We'll see how it works in the lake tomorrow. Joe do you sell any if thd wiring harnesses from the solenoid to the harness on your bday site? Had to ask in case my fix doesn't work. I'll keep you posted to how it turns out. Thanks again for the replies!
 
I have no wiring harnesses left at all, sorry.

Pertaining to flushing the lower unit. I've never bothered with that... I simply drained, then refilled with whatever lube was required and it always worked for me.

If a rebuild... of course everything was washed down, cleaned, air pressure dryed (new appearance).

The only adjustment on the hydro electric lower units are the height of the plungers within the solenoids... 1/64" below the top of the solenoids and measured when the solenoids are "in" the lower unit... a real PITA! If it shifted okay previous and nobody has changed that adjustment, then don't touch them.
 
Latest and greatest update. Fixed wiring harness, put back in water.....hopeful. Motor still wouldn't come out of forward. Did some more investigating, talked to an old gent who said if everything else was good, it was probably the hydraulic filter in the very front of the gear case was clogged up. So I tear it all apart, clean the filter, put it all back together, and what do you know. Neutral and a bit of reverse are working. I noticed that the dog clutch and reverse gear were chewed up a bit. Do you have any of those in your inventory Joe? I read somewhere on here that you can grind the dog clutch down to square it off so it will engage better. Any truth to that? Last question for the night. I noticed when I took it out for a quick spin, it would accelerate right off the bat, but then after about five minutes it wanted to die out. Starts fine. Any ideas? As always thanks for your input.
 
When looking for the dog clutch and reverse gear, will the partsyears their OMC motors from other years fit? Does it have to be from a hydro-electric shift? If there's a window for parts that would work it would give a better chance of finding replacements. Thanks!
 
Just to be sure we're on the same page..... You are using the proper gearlube specifically made for the electric shift lower units aren't you?

You CAN NOT use HI VIS lube in that lower unit. You MUST USE what OMC calls "Premium Blend" lube, commonly called "Type C". (A thinner lube)
 
Finally had a chance to take the old 1971 60 Hp Triumph apart to take a closer look at what might be causing the problem. Read a bunch more interesting post on the motor too. Here's what I found. When I was checking the wiring connections I noticed the insulating on the red wire on the back of the clipper was cracked/missing. Any chance this might be one of the issues? Boat runs great for he first little bit hen nothing.
The second thing I thought it might be was the thermo sensor circuit acting up. Read a post in which Joe described the OMC fix they sent out in a bulitin. If this switch was sticking/malfunctioning old that possibly cause the symptoms I am having? Joe do you have any clippers for his motor in your store? Thanks again for the help!
 
Quick correction to my last post. It was actually the red wire on the rectifier not the clipper. Everything else remains the same.

When you remove the clipper do you have to relocate any of the wires on the terminal (e.g.; jumper) or just remove it.

Thanks again!!
 
Sometimes a wire needs moving or added to supply 12v to the pulsepack... I really don't remember. Just check the purple wire leading to the pulsepack when the key is in the RUN or START position... that should supply the needed 12v.

I can't get at the wiring diagram right now due to the alarm being set. If you have a problem figuring it out, get back to me and I'll look it up.
 
Thanks Joe will do. I was just thinking, if the rectifier was shot, and I recall that this motor needs a good battery for the amplifier pack to work right. Is it possible that the motor is quitting because of the bad battery? Didn't have my meter last time I tried her, but she ran good for an hour or so then quit. Wouldn't start, wait for a while and she would run fine. It would seem to make sense to me because the battery would slowly come back over time, but not charging on the water, she would eventually drain down too low to run. Am I out to lunch here or what? Thoughts.
 
Those older Battery Capacitance Discharge ignition systems (yours) demands a top notch fully charged battery of at least a 70 ampere hour rating. Anything less can cause the pulsepack to become damaged, and of course have an effect on the starting and shifting system.
 
Hey Joe. Thanks for the replies. I get what you're saying that a good battery is very important for starting and shifting, but will it affect how the motor actually stays running (e.g.; produces spark) once she's fired? I'd love a copy of the wiring diagram if you're still willing to send it. The India in my manual isn't great. Thanks again!
 
cocoabailey said:
Hey Joe. Thanks for the replies. I get what you're saying that a good battery is very important for starting and shifting, but will it affect how the motor actually stays running (e.g.; produces spark) once she's fired? I'd love a copy of the wiring diagram if you're still willing to send it. The India in my manual isn't great. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Since the pulsepack is battey voltage energized, a poor battery would have an effect upon it... intermittently or permanently.

In one or your recent entries, you state that cleaning the oil pump screen allowed the lower unit to shift into neutral and also there was a gain of sorts going into reverse..... I would suggest double checking the cleanlines of that screen, and then look closely at the two rotating inner workings of the oil pump, also the wall surfaces of the pump along with the plunger that slides into the oil pump.

Should there be any scratches, gouges, imperfections of any kind, clean it all up with #600 (or higher) wet/dry black sandpaper. The #600 grade or higher would actually be a polishing grade rather than what one thinks of when sandpaper is mentioned. Everything in those areas needs to be moving smoothly.

I'm in the process of scanning the 1971 60hp electrical diagram now. Send me a PM and include your email address and I'll send it to you.

Refreshing my memory by viewing the diagram, you do not need to do any rewiring when removing the clipper circuit... simply remove it and forget it.
 
joereeves said:
Since the pulsepack is battey voltage energized, a poor battery would have an effect upon it... intermittently or permanently.

In one or your recent entries, you state that cleaning the oil pump screen allowed the lower unit to shift into neutral and also there was a gain of sorts going into reverse..... I would suggest double checking the cleanlines of that screen, and then look closely at the two rotating inner workings of the oil pump, also the wall surfaces of the pump along with the plunger that slides into the oil pump.

Should there be any scratches, gouges, imperfections of any kind, clean it all up with #600 (or higher) wet/dry black sandpaper. The #600 grade or higher would actually be a polishing grade rather than what one thinks of when sandpaper is mentioned. Everything in those areas needs to be moving smoothly.

I'm in the process of scanning the 1971 60hp electrical diagram now. Send me a PM and include your email address and I'll send it to you.

Refreshing my memory by viewing the diagram, you do not need to do any rewiring when removing the clipper circuit... simply remove it and forget it.[/QUOTE

Hey Joe,

Sent you my email in a PM as requested. Let me know if you don't get it please. The next time I have the lower off i am going to do exactly as you described above. Before I do that though I have to sort out this engine problem I'm having. If I can't get that sorted out the shifting won't be a problem. 😉. I, read a couple of post you and others have made ref ignition trouble shooting and I have some good ideas to try. Everything in this motor is super clean, and I'm leaning to the CDI/coil. Can the amplifiers be rebuilt Joe?

Thanks again for all your help!
Click to expand...
 
If the amplifiers can be rebuilt, I'm not aware of it... However technology has progressed to a point where just about anything is possible so possibly they can.
 
joereeves said:
If the amplifiers can be rebuilt, I'm not aware of it... However technology has progressed to a point where just about anything is possible so possibly they can.
Click to expand...

Thanks Joe. Got the diagram, I'll let you know how I make out.

Boobie, I'm going to check out that site too. Thanks.
 
joereeves said:
If the amplifiers can be rebuilt, I'm not aware of it... However technology has progressed to a point where just about anything is possible so possibly they can.
Click to expand...

Hi Joe, I've read this thread over and over and you've been super helpful. I'm wondering if you can provide any guidance on how to clean the oil filter screen. Where is it?

I have been experiencing many of the same issues the original poster had. The engine would not go into reverse and in forward it puttered. At first I lough it was the throttle cables, so I changed them with new ones. Then I noticed the lower unit cables weren't moving freely, so in took down the lower unit and cleaned the and reset the pulleys. It was very dirty and clear that water had gotten in so I replaced all the seals.

But before I aligned the rack and the shift rod back on the lower unit, I saw that the rack and rod weren't moving very much. At first it wouldn't go into gear at all, but I sprayed PB blaster on it and let it sit and was able to get it into forward, but still no reverse. Is there anything else I should be looking at other than the oil filter and putting the type c gear lube in?
 
What is the model # of your motor ???----Are you sure it has ---Hydro-electric ----shift.----This thing about " pulleys " in there is puzzling.----A Hydro-electric shift would only have one cable !----Or do you have an inboard / outboard OMC Sterndrive ???----Hydro-electric shift was never used on sterndrive models either.
 
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