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OMC electric shift stringer kills engine when shifting into for or rev

V

vintage vic

New member
hello everybody, let me start by saying,love the forum! its helped me out alot but now I have a question. i've been restoring a 1969 slickcraft 23ft design patent pending is the only id i have on this boat. got it running great till this am. went fishing [or so i thought]. started the engine,warmed it up, put it in reverse and THUD,it stalled my engine and pulled the wheel out of my hand. restarted fine put it in fwd and THUD again,killed the engine. the outdrive is an electric shift stringer that ive had no problems with till now. any help would be appreciated.
 
I gotta give it to you straight.

If you know your drive, you know the shafts turn gears from the moment you start the motor. to the lower.

So everything is good to there.

You hit the button to go into forward or reverse kills the motor and yanks the wheel.

Your problem is in the lower.

It's not overheating meaning the shafts are turning all the way to the lower.

Sorry it's what i think.

When you do find out i may have a gear set in my basement for you. I said may i got to look.

Lets first find out the problem.
 
Colonnas marine services said:
Don't forget that the shift control lowers the engine rpm's by killing half the cyls. just before gears ingage, may be short or idle is to low?
Click to expand...

electric shift drives didn't have that - OP's drive is an earlier stringer unit - electric shift

sure sounds like something piled up in the lower

although, I'd be tempted to unplug F shift wires and try reverse, then unplug R shift wire and try forward- not sure if it could be engaging both F and R at the same time. I don't know if that is possible, but easy to eliminate.
 
Mornin everybody. thanks for all the advice.time to pull the outdrive lower. pump water great,so im ok there.will chek wires for short and lower gears and springs.
 
get back to us with what you find.

Esa is in latter models and engage only when coming out of gear not into gear.

Why the esa or something like it as in a merc. ?

The dog clutch drive has a design where the gears are back cut. The motor has to stumble to allow the gears to separate.

But the electric shift drives do not have that.

Sorry once again i'm glad Hy piped in maybe i missed something.
 
tore it down last nite.gears and bearings look good.found 2 small cuts in in the wiring.one at the alum pass through the other 1/4 inch from the first shift coil.someone was in here before me.lots of shellac sealer. any idea on shift coil resistance?:confused:
 
There is neutral, forward and reverse.

With no juice going ether way it should be in neutral.

The vertical shaft turns soon as the motor starts, turns the water pump also.

Hy got it right the wires grounding out or and wrong lower gearcase gear oil.

You can gt that gear oil at any bombaider or evinrude dealer. It won't conduct electricity.
 
That CLUNK happened to me in May. It was a short in the electric shift wires, the forward and reverse was engaging at the same time and killing the engine.
 
That CLUNK happened to me in May. It was a short in the electric shift wires, the forward and reverse was engaging at the same time and killing the engine.
 
tall ones. Plus 2 not rebuilt o drive V6 and 1 rebuilt V8 o drive. Have 69,70 OMC manuals too. SO???hey guys, new here. TC. I have a 1970 carver w 2 buick/jeep v6 odd fires, rochester 2bbs. It has omc e shifts. not in water now. Question. Worth restoring/ keeping? I have 4 extra intrmediate b gears w correct shaft. Also have 2 rebuilt (hope true) V6 o drives
 
Is the hull seaworthy? Is '70 Carver wood or fiberglass? If hull is junk, the engine & drives don't matter.
That being said, the 155 OMC was near bullet proof.
 
I agree with Droid. It's a question which requires more information than the boat model and engine/outdrive information. I would argue that your personal love of this boat and budget should also be considered. If you have unlimited funds and you really love the boat then go for it.

Keep in mind that with an old boat you may find that you feel like you find a new problem every time you work on it. Even things that seem functional on the surface will need maintenance.

What shape is the hull in?
what shape is the deck in?
What shape are the controls in?
What shape is the trailer in? Good tires? Rust?
Was she used on salt of fresh water?
What shape is the transom in?
What shape are the seats and other interior components in?
Then there is the small stuff. - Batteries, seals for glass, cleats, paint, trailer tires, bellows, bulbs, blower, bilge pump... whatever is old and worn out will cost you more and it will add up.

I am currently restoring a boat that is 15 years newer than that and it has been bag of surprises. It has been way more expensive than I thought it would be when I first got into it, and has taken years longer than I thought. Life doesn't pause for your project, so expect the project to take 3-4 times longer than you think (unless you are paying someone else to do the work).

Something I urge you to think about if you plan to keep it is throwing a conversion bracket on the transom and trading up to an outboard. I debated on that for a while before going ahead to rebuild the OMC my boat came with. I'm still kicking myself for that, but I'm up to my eyeballs in this project and beyond the point of no return. Trying to find the special tools to work on it myself has been painful. Sometimes when you can't find the tools at all you have to pay a boat mechanic who has them just to do 20 minutes of work because he has the tools. I had to pay $400.00 just to get some of my components to be measured for shims. If you switch to the outdrive you can pull all your I/O components and sell them.

If you are interested in brackets I included a link to an image below. This is the cheaper style for one motor. If you want multiple outboards, or one that has a swim deck between the transom and the motor it will cost more. They start around $700.00 and go up from there. If funds are limited you can get a used outboard for now and upgrade later when it makes more sense for you.

https://internal.bdoutdoors.com/2016/07/1292489_e61ded42c7af0a62118549703107ae01.jpg

Now with all that said, I'd encourage you to start a new thread in the future for your specific question. This thread died in 2011. Starting a new thread will get you a better response and make the information more organized for those who come after you to benefit from the questions you have asked.

I hope this helps, and happy to share my two cents further if you start a new thread with any further questions you have. If you do start a new thread, consider throwing some photos of the boat on there, it could be helpful to get you a more detailed response.
 
theydrewa31 said:
I agree with Droid. It's a question which requires more information than the boat model and engine/outdrive information. I would argue that your personal love of this boat and budget should also be considered. If you have unlimited funds and you really love the boat then go for it.

Keep in mind that with an old boat you may find that you feel like you find a new problem every time you work on it. Even things that seem functional on the surface will need maintenance.

What shape is the hull in?
what shape is the deck in?
What shape are the controls in?
What shape is the trailer in? Good tires? Rust?
Was she used on salt of fresh water?
What shape is the transom in?
What shape are the seats and other interior components in?
Then there is the small stuff. - Batteries, seals for glass, cleats, paint, trailer tires, bellows, bulbs, blower, bilge pump... whatever is old and worn out will cost you more and it will add up.

I am currently restoring a boat that is 15 years newer than that and it has been bag of surprises. It has been way more expensive than I thought it would be when I first got into it, and has taken years longer than I thought. Life doesn't pause for your project, so expect the project to take 3-4 times longer than you think (unless you are paying someone else to do the work).

Something I urge you to think about if you plan to keep it is throwing a conversion bracket on the transom and trading up to an outboard. I debated on that for a while before going ahead to rebuild the OMC my boat came with. I'm still kicking myself for that, but I'm up to my eyeballs in this project and beyond the point of no return. Trying to find the special tools to work on it myself has been painful. Sometimes when you can't find the tools at all you have to pay a boat mechanic who has them just to do 20 minutes of work because he has the tools. I had to pay $400.00 just to get some of my components to be measured for shims. If you switch to the outdrive you can pull all your I/O components and sell them.

If you are interested in brackets I included a link to an image below. This is the cheaper style for one motor. If you want multiple outboards, or one that has a swim deck between the transom and the motor it will cost more. They start around $700.00 and go up from there. If funds are limited you can get a used outboard for now and upgrade later when it makes more sense for you.

https://internal.bdoutdoors.com/2016/07/1292489_e61ded42c7af0a62118549703107ae01.jpg

Now with all that said, I'd encourage you to start a new thread in the future for your specific question. This thread died in 2011. Starting a new thread will get you a better response and make the information more organized for those who come after you to benefit from the questions you have asked.

I hope this helps, and happy to share my two cents further if you start a new thread with any further questions you have. If you do start a new thread, consider throwing some photos of the boat on there, it could be helpful to get you a more detailed response.
Click to expand...
 
I,ve restored 3 wooden boats, hull good,controls too. Boat used in Northern Mich.. Short season. Trailer is great. #18,000 , triple axle, repacked bearings. Have receipts on most work on o drives. One problem, i do not have unlimited funds. Am i crazy to think that i have parts for a long time if needed? Boat would be on Ohio river now. Thank you for interest /advice.
 
Augustino, you need to start a new thread/ post. When you are on the OMC page that shows all of the questions that have been posted there is an ORANGE button at the top right hand corner that says "Post Thread". Pretty please start a new thread! You will have a better chance of getting more responses and of higher quality if you start a new posting. Adding photos will increase the quantity and quality of responses as well.

As far as part for your specific model I'll be 100% honest: I have no idea as to the current availability of parts now or in the future for your specific model. I have a lot of information on the OMC stuff that is 15-20 years newer than what you have, but I don't know as much about the stuff from the era your boat was built in. The bearings should be available for quite a while because those were not manufactured by OMC (bearings would have been made by a bearing manufacturer like TIMKEN). Same goes for engine parts (those being chevy, ford or Buick). The outdrive and other boat specific parts is where you MIGHT run into problems. That said, parts were not the hard thing to find for me, I did have to shop around a little for a couple things, for example my shift cable is hard to find if you want OEM OMC. I had to choose between a used OEM cable, or an aftermarket cable. The bigger problem in my situation was finding the TOOLS. I have still not been able to find some of the tools I needed.

So here is the question I ask, and please don't answer it here. Answer this ON A NEW POSTING! What does the boat need right now? Since you kind of need to answer this question for yourself here is what I recommend:
  1. Identify what needs done
  2. order the repair manual that will cover the model and year of the components that need work.
  3. read that manual to determine the parts and tools you need to get her on the water.
  4. check the availability of those items.
In my case I would have had the same cost to upgrade to an outboard; which would have been more "future proof". But I didn't know this until I had already bought a good amount of parts and got into the project, especially since a bunch of unexpected issues came up during the project.

If she is already seaworthy, and you aren't taking her offshore into the ocean then I would say you can worry about selling the boat or replacing/ repairing components when problems present themselves. So much of this really depends on how things were cared for. My vessel was neglected, if yours was regularly maintained it could be in decent shape and not need much at the moment.

This is just my opinion, but if I had it to do over again I wouldn't have rebuilt the OMC I am working on currently. I would have sold off all of the OMC stuff that came with the boat and upgraded to an outboard. Live and learn I guess!

Hope this helps!

Including a photo to show you where the button to post a new thread is just to make it easier on you. The button is circled in green with an arrow pointing to it in the photo below. Click forums, then OMC from the I/O section, this is the page you will get to.

post thread.jpg


Fun side note: my boat came from northern Michigan as well! Though she's a California girl now!
 
Grew194 said:
That CLUNK happened to me in May. It was a short in the electric shift wires, the forward and reverse was engaging at the same time and killing the engine.
Click to expand...
Same issue! Frayed electric shift wires that shorted out activating both forward and reverse. I was doing about 25Ranger at the time. Prop broke the shear pin, spin off the shaft and is at the lake bottom. Lower unit gears were a mess. Rebuilt.
 
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