Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

[Jeff the fisher]

I have a'68 40 horse johnson with hydroelectric shift and a '71 50hp evinrude. The 50 has a 3 button shift control. The 40 has everything on the stick for the remote (forward = forward, up = neutral, back = reverse.)
I would like to use the remote from the 40hp on the 50hp. The plugs mess together. One is black and the motor plug is yellow.
I don't want to use the control that came with the 50hp as someone unhooked some of the wires and the switches were replaced with a three position pull out type switch.
It looks like most of the wires on the controls match, but there are some that don't. Can I just switch around the ones that don't match to make the positions match and use the older controler?

Any help will be appriciated. Thanks

 

[F_R]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

Whoa! You don't have a '68 40hp with HydroElectric shift. That motor has Electramatic shift, a totally different animal. If you attempt to use the 50 hp control and shift switch on the 40 it will bust the drive shaft or something in the lower unit the first time you put it in reverse. And forward and neutral will be backwards.

 

[Jeff the fisher]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

I am wanting to use the control from the 1968 40 hp. The control says it is a hydro electric control. The owners manual says the motor has an electramatic shift.
Any ideas?

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

If the control box says Hydro Electric on it, it doesn't go with your 40hp motor. Take F R's advise!

I suggest that you take a digital pic of the control box and print it here so we can double check. You can also look at the end of the electric cable to see if it has a round, yellow plug on it. If so, you probably do have a Hydro Electric control box. The 40hp motor, however, is not Hydro Electric!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

1971 72 harness plug is Yellow, 1969 and before is black. 1973-1995 red, 1996 and newer many small plugs.

 

[F_R]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

Not correct. I think the following is correct. If not, let Me know.

Black Plugs = Hydroelectric with amplified battery ignition

Yellow Plugs = Hydroelectric with Mag CD ignition

Red Plugs = Mechanical shift with Mag CD

Source = Willy B Wright, iboats

 

[Jeff the fisher]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

Thank you all for the excellent advice on things.
I decided to use the control that came with the motor. I replaced the switch, but now I cannot get anything to happen with the motor. I get electicity to the solonoid, but not to the starter. Everything seems to check out on the solonoid. Except not getting voltage to the starter. I swapped out the solonoid from my old 1968 40hp. It looked to be the same. I still get the same results. Is there another switch or something that I should be looking for to be causing a problem.
Would it make a huge difference if i don't have the wires hooked up for the shifter? The previous someone put in a different shifting switch as the push-buttons seemed to not be working. It now has a push in pull out type switch, (similar to the old headlight switches).
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

OK, sounds like you want to use the '71 50hp motor with the hydro electric control unit. First things first - does that control unit have a yellow plug to match the yellow plug that you said was in the motor? If not, its the wrong control box.

If it does have the yellow plug, lets go to the next thing. You said that someone put a push/pull type, three position switch in it. You can pretty much bet the dog's supper, that this was done because the shift switch in the control box is shot. The proper switch was not replaced because you can't get them any more.

If the three position switch is wired correctly it will work, but its not a particularly good (or safe) solution. The way your gearcase works, is that it has two solenoids in it to actuate a pair of hydraulic poppet valves. Without getting into a long discussion on exactly what happens, suffice it to say that with no voltage to either solenoid, your gearbox will default to forward gear. When voltage is applied to one solenoid (green wire), the gearbox will shift into neutral. When voltage is applied to both solenoids (green & blue wires), the engine will shift into reverse. This is not the same as your 40hp selectric shift, so don't use the hydro electric control unit with that motor! You should also not use the control box for the 40hp with the hydro electric 50hp!

What is also built into the shift switch is a "neutral start circuit." There is an additional switch (white wires) that prevents the starter solenoid from engaging, unless the control is in the neutral position. This is accomplished by opening the neutral start circuit if the unit is in either forward or reverse, and closing it when the unit is in neutral.

It is possible that the switch for the neutral start circuit still works. That may be why there is only one "home made" switch. Try pushing the original neutral switch on the control box and then turn the key to the start position. If that works and the engine then runs, you can try your push pull switch to see if it shifts the gearcase.

Ultimately, however, I would get rid of the push/pull switch. Frankly, its just too easy to inadvertantly hit it with your hand or something else. If you do that with power on the engine, you may tear the gearbox up.

Let us know how things work out.

 

[Jeff the fisher]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

Thanks,
I did get the motor to crank. I pushed the switch attached to the throttle control in and the motor started to crank.
The push button control wasn't even hooked into the system at all.

I will get a different switch to use for shifting.

I sure appreciate the help on this motor. I don't really have any history except the little information from the brother-in-law from the previous owner that he purchased it from .

I will chase down some of your suggestions and then keep you posted.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

OK, it sounds like the push/pull is a two way only, and was installed to take the place of the neutral start circuit switch.

Here's a thread that you can read to gain a bit of insight on installing a replacement switch. Please read all of it - we made some mistakes in logic along the way. That said, it gives some pretty good info.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=240278+1972+johnson+shift+switch

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Wiring between '68 & 71' remote control

I set up a buddies 1972 65 hp with a double pole, double throw switch mounted right in the original Evinrude control box about 2 years ago and it's been working fine ever since. I made it very clear to him that hitting the switch above idle would mean lower unit destruction, he's been fine with it since.

I had originally planned to do it with a pair of relays using a micro switch on the throttle to prevent high RPM shifting but we figured that the boat wasn't worth all that trouble.

What I did do, was go out and find a switch that had a really hard throw, one that a simple bump didn't move it. I'm not sure what it was from but I got it from a place that buys surplus parts, it's waterproof and fit nicely into the space where the original push buttons were. I made an aluminum plate to fill the opening and mounted the switch.

If there's been any ill effects, they've not surfaced as of yet. We both figured that if the conversion didn't work, the boat was heading to the junk pile anyway.

The way I see it, forward and reverse need to be easy to access for docking and maneuvering in close quarters, so the switch needed to be at hand, and not too well protected. I considered putting it on the dash but that would mean reaching for it while docking.

I've dealt with several Hydro Electric motors over the past few years, so far, the only ones to have issues with shifting have been the push button Evinrude controls. I've actually only run across one set of those that still worked properly.