I was told that it was a from a 1970-1975 100 horse Johnson, I just bought it the guy told me that the shifting diode was bad and he had taken it off. I have not rand the engine yet, was wondering if it would hurt it to run it or what. It is the diode in the shift control.
If you are talking about the shift diode in the control, and IF it is supposed to have one, the answer is yes. Not all motors are supposed to have one though.
If it has one, and it is shorted, you can't turn the motor off.