1977 OMC Electric Shifter Problem

[JOHN HARTER]

Bear with me as I don't know all proper terminology but I do know the source of my problem. I lost reverse and forward and traced my problem back to the shift lever assembly itself. Inside the shifter housing is a plasic (clutch?) with a notch, which I'm assuming is for neutral, where the switch toggle goes into. This is the same plastic peice that is attached the threaded knob on the outside that you pull for neutral. When shifting into forward it flips the switch up and, of course, down for reverse. My problem is that it seems to be malfunctioning and sometimes remains in neutral or stays in forward. Any ideas on repair or know where I can get a replacement?

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: 1977 OMC Electric Shifter Problem

John,<br />Parts are getting hard to find for those old electric shifts. The only place to get this part new is an OMC dealer. There are no aftermarket manufacturers.<br /><br />Its been a few years since I sold my electric shift. The best money I ever spent on that boat was the installation of a Morse MV-3 (skiboat) control, modified with a switch for the OMC. I dug up all the info from the Morse website and from talking with one of their tech reps.<br /><br />Not sure Morse supports this retrofit anymore, I did mine in 1996.

 

[JOHN HARTER]

Re: 1977 OMC Electric Shifter Problem

Thanks Rainmaker. Turned out to be the actual switch. Pretty expensive but was able to find a new one from SOS Marine in Seattle.<br /><br />John