68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

[Travis798]

Hi Everyone. So I finally got my engine purring like a kitten, took her out to the lake and she did great for a few minutes, then I lost forward gear but still had reverse. I backed a decent ways back to the dock without a problem, got the boat home and noticed my power cable for my shift/throttle box thing had gotten hot and started to melt.

I took the cable off, cut back to good wire, re soldered the wire back in the little box, and now I find myself without forward or reverse. I'm not sure the problem is actually in the box, because even with it unhooked a test light is showing a dead short in both the forward/reverse wires (hooked test light ground to batt positive, touch the wires and they light up) I cut the forward/reverse wires just before they go into the lower end hoping to cut out a bad spot of wire, but they still show the dead short.

My question is, are these wires supposed to be grounded, or is it possible that I fried both of my solenoids when the wiring got hot? I should note that my ignition switch also fried, and I'm in the process of replacing some wiring to try to eliminate whatever caused the problem, but does it sound like I'm going to have to tear into this lower end, or are the wires supposed to be grounded?

 

[F_R]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

Y'know, things can be tested.

Check the reistance at the wires going down to the lower unit. Without looking it up, I seem to remember they should have about 4 ohms to ground.

I'm suspecting the cable going down is burned up. It is no longer made.

 

[Travis798]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

Y'know, things can be tested.

Check the reistance at the wires going down to the lower unit. Without looking it up, I seem to remember they should have about 4 ohms to ground.

I'm suspecting the cable going down is burned up. It is no longer made.

I finally hunted down my multimeter, but I also use it to check voltage. I never have a need to check resistance on anything, and frankly, I haven't a clue. I know the resistance is supposed to be between 4.5 to 6.5 ohms but again, haven't a clue of how to check it between each wire.

The wiring that I cut into looks good. It may be bad somewhere down the line though, but if it is, it's just 2 wires. I can make a new cable. I may not have ever needed to check resistance, but I can run wire.

*Edit* It should be fixed, I'll know for sure in a bit. My switch was worn down in my throttle box that sends the signal to the forward and reverse coils. Going to get a toggle switch now to hook up to it until I can find a new switch. Already replaced my bad wire so I'll be dropping it back in the barrel this evening to double check everything.

Nobody told me owning a boat was going to be this much "fun"!

 

[Travis798]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

Well I tore into my lower end and found that my forward coil is fried. The windings are in bad bad shape, so now I get the pleasure of trying to find a coil for this baby. My reverse coil seems to be fine, hooked it up to a battery and the magnet is strong. The wire had been spliced about an inch from the coil and the splice came apart.

On another note, I'll just hope someone reads this here instead of flooding this forum with new topics, I'm now looking at a 69 Johnson 40hp, with mine being a 68, should I have any problems simply swapping lower ends?

If that deal doesn't come through, and I completely swap to a new motor, all I will need to do is change the controls for throttle/shift for the motor I get, correct? I honestly don't know jack about boats, but this SEEMS like it should be easy, am I wrong?

 

[F_R]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

The '68 and '69 are virtually the same motors, assuming they are both Electramatic Shift. They were also made in a mechanical shift version.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

I still have one of those coils.

 

[royal0014]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

The coils are available on marineengine.com.....$125

 

[Travis798]

Re: 68 Johnson 40hp Electromatic problem

Thanks guys. There is a place about an hour and a half from here that says they should have the coil I need, but I'm not sure yet if rebuilding the lower end is going to be worth it. The lower end I have now has been torn into by somebody before me and it is in desperate need for seals/gaskets/new snap ring/needle bearings/etc. I found a complete lower end for my electromatic for $300 so that may be a better route to go.

I was asking about the motor swap because I have a 76 Chrysler 45hp that I believe is in good shape but needs the control cables. ( At least thats what I believe you would call the shift and throttle cable?) The same place that has a coil for mine has the control cable for $80 so that may be the way I go if I can get a title to this motor. I know I'm already way off topic from my original post and I may need to post a new thread, but does anyone have any experience with these chrysler motors? My Grandpa has a force on his boat which I believe is the same thing and he's had no problems out of his.