Stringer electric shift won't go into forward.

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hunt2labs

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I was trolling for several hours at idle in my 1972 Steury V5-18 with the OMC 155. At one point a couple of hours into trolling at idle speed the gear slipped out very briefly and right back into forward. After we finished trolling, we accelerated and the gears slipped out of forward and would not reengage. Reverse works fine.
Ran home on the old kicker that I would use for trolling if the waves were not as big as they were today.

Could this be an cable adjustment issue? I had been moving the group of cable around recently while searching for an electrical problem which has since gone away.
The used lower unit was installed last summer.
 
H

hunt2labs

Seaman
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Investigated electrical system.
Switch at bow shift controller works and is sending 12v to both green and blue wires going to magnets.
Propeller engages in both forward and reverse (on land anyway).

Yet another thing that makes me go "Hmmmm."
I have replaced two lowers on this boat (the 1st one without reverse and 2nd one without forward).
Any ideas?
I am running Type C Premium blend oil in the lower per specs.
We were trolling in 50 degree F water temp.

It would be nice to figure this one out. Long ride back with the 1975 Evrnrude Sportwin 9.5 yesterday.
 
Redrig

Redrig

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You're gonna have to test the shift coils resistance , it should be around 4.5 to 6.5 is the acceptable range IIRC .

there are no cable adjustments on an electric shift , its either getting 12 volts or not.

however , judging by your description I would guess that your forward shift spring has broken , what you described is exactly what happened to mine when its shift spring broke.

cuz if you have verified that the green wire is indeed getting a full 12 volts and its still not engaging or holding ion gear , its either the coil itself or that shift spring.

you mention that you have went through 2 lowers . Do you get a "thunk" when you shift into gear ? what is your idle at ?

reason I ask is you definately dont want these slamming into gear at higher RPMs

Good luck.
 
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H

hunt2labs

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REDRIG said:
You're gonna have to test the shift coils resistance , it should be around 4.5 to 6.5 is the acceptable range IIRC .

there are no cable adjustments on an electric shift , its either getting 12 volts or not.

however , judging by your description I would guess that your forward shift spring has broken , what you described is exactly what happened to mine when its shift spring broke.

cuz if you have verified that the green wire is indeed getting a full 12 volts and its still not engaging or holding ion gear , its either the coil itself or that shift spring.

you mention that you have went through 2 lowers . Do you get a "thunk" when you shift into gear ? what is your idle at ?

reason I ask is you definately dont want these slamming into gear at higher RPMs

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks- I forgot this is entirely electric.

I am getting 12 volts on both wires and resistance on the propeller itself in both forward and reverse.
I originally had no reverse when I got the "free" boat 2 years ago. Replacement lower unit #1 turned out to have a bad or broken forward coil.
The unit on it now (replacement #2) was working just fine.
I definitely do not drop into gear in anything other than idle which I have not actually checked the RPM of. It is at a very low idle-set by mechanic last year and just able to keep the engine running.

I also know not to quickly go from reverse to forward (or back) quickly-usually wait 10-15 seconds between.

No thunk dropping into gear.

Going to check fluid level again-just filled it a month ago.
 
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hunt2labs

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Type C in lower unit-Yup.

So now everything seems to be running fine on land. I have to put in the lake to see if it slips again.
The prop seems fully engaged in both gears at idle-kinda hard to check to see at higher RPMs.
I wonder: since the control was barely in forward at idle for so long, could the switch that is inside the controller have gotten corroded if it was barely making the connection? We slowly throttled up after having been in forward at idle or just above for hours. From the looks of the switch inside the controller, it fully opens when you move the controller just a few inches into forward.

We did notice it slip out of forward once or twice while at idle without moving the controller.
I hate not knowing what is going on.
 
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hunt2labs

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If we can't figure it out and everything seems to be working again, I will probably run the kicker motor from now on and go to the main for getting around.
I have been running the main because the little old kicker needs to run at pretty high throttle to push this heavy boat around.
 
H

hunt2labs

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Well, It went into gear(s) and kicked in and out of forward when moving controller forward. The 4th time it locked in, idled in gear for a few minutes, throttled up on plane for a minute, then it kicked out of gear. Neutral, reverse, then forward again and it locked in. Throttle up and it kicked out and will no longer go into forward.

Ideas?
 
Redrig

Redrig

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with the engine off and key on, I would hook up a voltometer to the forward shifting wire , green.

then slowly move the throttle control around and see if it drops from 12 volts even momentarily.

It almost sounds like you have a dead spot or someing in that switch, that will kill your lower eventually.

basically just test that switchc inside the control to make sure that it is providing a full 12 volts throughout the range for F and R.
 
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hunt2labs

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REDRIG said:
with the engine off and key on, I would hook up a voltometer to the forward shifting wire , green.

then slowly move the throttle control around and see if it drops from 12 volts even momentarily.

It almost sounds like you have a dead spot or someing in that switch, that will kill your lower eventually.

basically just test that switchc inside the control to make sure that it is providing a full 12 volts throughout the range for F and R.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
I checked again at the wires with battery on and shift controller in forward, then reverse. 12 volts getting to wire at top on engine feeding lower unit.
I can hear the reverse click into position-but not the forward gear.

So now I have cracked open the original lower that came with the boat that lost it's reverse gear. I have the reverse gear out and it is fine-magnet works and coil is not broken. I did discover a cracked wire going to the reverse magnet and have coated it with liquid electrical tape.

I have to check the forward magnet with an ohm meter to see if that is working. I cannot hear the forward gear move when I apply 12v to the lead wire.
That's gonna be fun to pull that unit out if I have a broken wire or think the coil is broken up there.
 
H

hunt2labs

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Working on the original unit that came with the boat. The forward magnet on this original lower seems to be getting power-I tested with a screwdriver with power on and off that magnet.

I would rather not put this back together until I make sure the forward is actually moving the coil. Do I have to seal it all up again with the reverse back in place adn add fluid to check to see if the thing is working? Will it ever slide or engage the coil if there is no fluid in the lower?

Thanks,
 
H

hunt2labs

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Foward spring is NOT broken. Applying 12v to forward coil will allow it to lock up..
Still having hard time testing coil for proper Ohms-
Not sure what setting my multi-meter should be in under Ohm selections.
Really don't want to put this back together and find I have a forward coil without proper resistance.
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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Put your multimeter in the lowest setting you have. Hopefully you have a 200 ohm setting for your smallest setting.
 
Redrig

Redrig

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IIRC its 4.5-6.5 , just cant remember if thats single digits or in thousands.

I will look in my manual tonight and let you know if no one else chimes in.
 
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hunt2labs

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My multi meter battery was dead! I was wondering why I could not get anything to display unless I was checking DC volts....fixed that issue.
Found over 4.5 when testing forward and reverse coils.

So that said, the wire harness going to the lower looked pretty bad. I am going to pull another one from one of my "spares" and put this puppy back together.
It's gotta be that wire. The forward gear locks up tight when I apply 12v to the forward coil.

I am having a tough time finding the lock nut with nylon insert that goes on the crankshaft. Manual states to use a new one. Ideas where to find one?
 
H

hunt2labs

Seaman
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Update.
Forward and reverse seem to be working fine after ripping nearly everything out except forward gears.
Thanks for all the help guys.
 
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hunt2labs

Seaman
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Captain's log: Final update;
Instead of rebuilding the driveshaft on the most recent outdrive that was giving me fits, I went back to the outdrive that came with the boat. I had not ripped that forward gear out and remembered that the unit only had a bad reverse spring on it.
Replaced the reverse spring with one from the most recent outdrive after confirming the spring was solid.
Spliced in a better power wire and liquid taped and heat shrinked that.
Confirmed good 6.4 ohms to each magnet.
Replaced gaskets with new and put it in the lake.

Confirmed water flow was good (have a garden hose tap at engine spliced in).

Ran beautifully! (Fingers crossed) I took it out for a couple of hours at WOT and idle.

While this is not rocket science and has a learning curve, with the help of guys on this forum and perseverance, I saved several hundred $$ doing this myself.
It does help to have 2 other outdrives to work off of. Now I have quite the inventory of drive shafts, etc.

Thank you!
 
Redrig

Redrig

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Good Job !

I keep a spare lower as well , just in case for parts , ect . always a good idea with these old units
 
southkogs

southkogs

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REDRIG said:
I keep a spare lower as well , just in case for parts , ect . always a good idea with these old units
Click to expand...
... I've got a whole storage case in my garage dedicated to Stringer "salvage."
 
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