Re: [OMC-Boats] OMC FACTORY SHIFTER DIAGNOSTICS

On Aug 24, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Lee Shuster wrote:

> Your comment, "Yes it's a little weird, but it went ok," probably
> alludes to my concerns. You might get away with it under very
> controlled test conditions, but it still falls into the "Don't try
> this at home, folks!" category.

well, actually it didn't take too much to get used to. in reality,
backing away from the dock was a matter of just manipulating the
switch and steering. I didn't even touch the big lever. perhaps my
idle is set a little high and that's why i was able to do this. But
I don't think it's over 1000 rpm. No, my tach isn't working. I
know - bad time to not have a functioning tach, but I can hear and
feel it shifting pretty smooth and comparable to what it does when the
shifter worked. When I was underway, I was always in forward
obviously. Slowing down to a stop was a matter of moving the lever
back to N, hearing the engine die down, then flipping the switch to
N. But yeah, one has to be careful. I don't flip the switch
unless i'm in N on the shifter, which sort of "guarantees" the idle
to be down at safe level to shift. My idle seems to be a little
sticky which is another issue for later though.

And isn't this switching procedure I'm having to do with the auto
parts store rigged up switch the same thing the people with the push
button shifters have to do? The buttons are the switch, right?

>
>
> Yes. Yes. Nothing bad. And anything under 1000 RPM, shooting for 475
> to 625 would be ideal.

ok - good.

>
> Switch in NEUTRAL: OPEN (OR NO CONTINUITY) BETWEEN ANY WIRES/CONTACTS
> Switch in FORWARD: CLOSED (OR CONTINUITY) BETWEEN RED and GREEN
> WIRES/CONTACTS
> Switch in REVERSE: CLOSED (OR CONTINUITY) BETWEEN RED and BLUE
> WIRES/CONTACTS
>
> Logically RED (Purple on later OMC's) is your INPUT to the switch
> and you outputs are either (F) GREEN or (R) Blue. Make sense?
>
> IS it possible you misread your indications? Perhaps confusing the
> FORWARD and NEUTRAL WIRES/CONTACTS?
> Did you see a symptom that would not allow you to take the gear case
> out of neutral.
>
> Jeff, sometimes I find it helpful to look back at the original
> symptom, and document everything I've done so far.
> It's not clear from this e-mail what the current outcome of your
> testing is. Could you actually successfully engage F and R clutch
> coils?

Yep F and R are working fine with the auto parts store rigged
switch, so i guess the coils are working. The switch itself is
the weird part. It closes in R as it should. Nothing closes in
F. And when it centers itself to N, it closes (the tester lights
up). And that's all while I'm holding in my hand moving it with my
fingers - not mounted in the housing. So for some crazy reason the
switch has failing in a way that is making it send power when it's in
neutral position. Grrrrrrrr. Wish they didn't melt rubber onto
the whole thing and then rivet it all together. Probably could be
fixed otherwise.

Anyway - today's mission - I still have the old broken plastic
switch. I'm going to a local plastics place and see if they might be
able to take it and mold me a new one from it somehow - for $50 or
less. Otherwise I'm stuck doing the Ebay thing.
Received on Monday, 24 August 2009