Outboard Switch Over

[SkunkedAgain]

I know this will have to be moved to the other board, but I hoped it could remain here long enough so it can be seen so I can get some answers…

I sold my Mercury 115 last fall and have been looking for a replacement since. I have a Johnson 60 hp on hold for me, but it doesn’t have any controls. I have the Mercury controls in my boat, but I don’t think they will work, so looking for new controls and they are more expensive than I figured… If i get the control handle and such $289 it looks like it will take 2 control cables $46 each and then it states that you need a wiring harness adapter to run a 93 motor on the new control handles and it was like $300… If the wires for the motor are there, shouldn’t I be able to come up with a plug or just splice those wires together? Seems like $300 for this might be a little more than necessary… Anyone done anything like this conversion before? Also anyone know the where abouts of a used Johnson/Evinrude controller with the trim tab and key on the unit, that is for sale at a better price? Thanks Jeff

PS… I’ll move this to the boat motors by Saturday night, but would like to see if I can find folks that might be able to help, that don’t read the boat and motor forum very often… Thx

[RockyRaab2]

Because Evinrude/Johnson is out of business, I think I’d avoid getting one of their motors. They say they still have parts and will honor warranty, but…

I also wonder about going from a 115 to a 60hp. Half the power may not be nearly enough and then all your expenses will be wasted when you have to re-engine again to get that power back.

[elkantlers]

I would have traded you. I have a 70hp Suzuki that runs like a top but I wish it was just a bit bigger when I have 4 people in the boat. I would like a 115 someday.

[SkunkedAgain]

I’m switching the boat over to just fishing, not skiing and tube pulling… It’s a tired old boat and I just want a good reliable motor to get me out on the water… I’m not fishing tournaments where I need to race to a spot, but I also want something faster than the 5 mph I’m getting out of my 9.9 hp trolling motor…

The 115 hp was too big for the boat rating to start with and it was really heavy on the back end of the boat… I’m thinking I should still get 20+ mph and have a machine that is a lot easier to handle… plus it will float higher in the water, which is needed out on Cutler since it’s only about 3’ deep and some areas even less… One spot I have to cross is only about 16" deep so a lighter motor floats higher so I can push across the shortcut a lot easier than the heavy motor dragging bottom… It’s not a powell boat, but it should do the little lakes I fish, and be okay for Bear Lake on reasonable wave days… I’m not ready to buy a real boat yet, but this one will get me by for what I do… at least I hope it will… I should get a new boat, but this one is set up pretty well for how I like to fish and the price is a lot easier for me to handle…

As far as Evinrude/Johnson out of business, that really is unfortunate, I understand they are much better motors to work on than the Mercury and foreign built motors and with as many motors around as there are, I’ve got to hope someone will still be making after market parts to keep them running… The biggest drawback of this motor is, it’s not a four stroke, that is the one thing I’m most unhappy with, but it also saved me $2500 off the price of a comparable four stroke… so I can deal with the inconvenience for the price difference as long as the new president doesn’t outlaw 2 strokes in the near future… which is always a possibility, but I hope he don’t…

Anyway long explanation for my trade offs that I’ve made, but I think they will work out okay… If not I’ll whine later…Jeff

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@elkantlers

I would have traded you. I have a 70hp Suzuki that runs like a top but I wish it was just a bit bigger when I have 4 people in the boat. I would like a 115 someday.

Wish I would have known when I started this last fall, however, I wouldn’t have wanted to see my old 115 go to anyone I knew… It had insulation peeling off all the wiring, and the shop told me it would cost about $1300 to update the electrical… So I sold it for $400 just to remove the temptation… It was a good motor, but getting old and needing some attention… Didn’t want to put that much into a motor that I really wasn’t happy with because it was too heavy for my boat… Hope this new one will be a good balanced fit… Later Jeff

[system]

I rewired a 1975 115 Merc a couple of years ago- $235 and 2 hrs of my time. If I can do it anyone can. I have a brother who is a guide on Lake Eire he says the mechanics there say you will find parts for your rude/john until you die. I wish I could help on your question but there are forums out there that could answer your question.

[SkunkedAgain]

@packfish

I rewired a 1975 115 Merc a couple of years ago- $235 and 2 hrs of my time. If I can do it anyone can. I have a brother who is a guide on Lake Eire he says the mechanics there say you will find parts for your rude/john until you die. I wish I could help on your question but there are forums out there that could answer your question.

I think I was just done with that motor, it had a habit of not working when I needed it to and when Lee’s said the motor needed new wires and the electronic ignition should be replaced and etc. etc… (which probably wasn’t true because the engine still ran) anyway I was just done with it, so I sold it cheap and cut my losses…

I did find a youtube video on rewiring the older (Pre 96) Johnson motors to the newer controls… I think it doesn’t look too bad, but I need to see what I’m up against when I get the motor… not sure how many wires are there to work with… Here’s another question, My Humminbird fish finder has a screen that has all the boat gages and controls on it. What do you have to do, to get your motor to talk to your fish finder? Is it difficult to hook the two units together while I’m already having to rewire the harness? I’m thinking it is possible, but I need to know what you need to have to connect to the fish finder… is this a time to find a good boat forum too? Thanks Jeff

[RockyRaab2]

Can’t help you there. Mercury has an option called Vessel View Mobile that plugs into the motor wiring and links by Bluetooth to a phone or tablet and shows all motor data (and a lot more). Dunno nuttin bout no Johnson.

[2knots]

My motor info gets to my fish finder via a NEMA 2000 backbone, it’s not a cheap option
(Cables and connectors)and I wouldn’t of put it in except for the radar and other stuff I needed for running in the ocean so the motor info was a bonus

[sanitarymechanic]

I tried to look through the replies but didn’t see it mentioned exactly. Please forgive me if it’s there and I missed it. What year is your Johnson? I have a control unit from a '76. I does not have tilt control and it may need one new shift/throttle cable. I’m thinking $50. I’ve been told, and found it to be somewhat true that all red plugs are compatible (I used the 84 controls from my boat on my 76 motor), I’m not sure what year they stopped the red plug ('93?). I’m in Tooele but work in Salt Lake and can meet you if you’re interested.

[2knots]

@SkunkedAgain

“packfish, post:5, topic:321323” wrote:

I rewired a 1975 115 Merc a couple of years ago- $235 and 2 hrs of my time. If I can do it anyone can. I have a brother who is a guide on Lake Eire he says the mechanics there say you will find parts for your rude/john until you die. I wish I could help on your question but there are forums out there that could answer your question.

I think I was just done with that motor, it had a habit of not working when I needed it to and when Lee’s said the motor needed new wires and the electronic ignition should be replaced and etc. etc… (which probably wasn’t true because the engine still ran) anyway I was just done with it, so I sold it cheap and cut my losses…

I did find a youtube video on rewiring the older (Pre 96) Johnson motors to the newer controls… I think it doesn’t look too bad, but I need to see what I’m up against when I get the motor… not sure how many wires are there to work with… Here’s another question, My Humminbird fish finder has a screen that has all the boat gages and controls on it. What do you have to do, to get your motor to talk to your fish finder? Is it difficult to hook the two units together while I’m already having to rewire the harness? I’m thinking it is possible, but I need to know what you need to have to connect to the fish finder… is this a time to find a good boat forum too? Thanks Jeff

It may also be possible to hook it up with the NEMA 0813 which is all low voltage cable, the 2 extra wires that come out of your fish finder power cord that nobody typically uses is the 0813 cables. You would need to check in your fish finder manual to see what system they are using for the “gauges”. 0813 uses limited codes in sentences and some time won’t read what is coming from the motor or other devices on the boat and can be manufacture specific hence the move to NEMA 2000. Motor age could be an issue also to tie into the FF as it may be strictly analog out put to a typical gauge. Let me know if you need a hand putting any of it together Jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

@sanitarymechanic

I tried to look through the replies but didn’t see it mentioned exactly. Please forgive me if it’s there and I missed it. What year is your Johnson? I have a control unit from a '76. I does not have tilt control and it may need one new shift/throttle cable. I’m thinking $50. I’ve been told, and found it to be somewhat true that all red plugs are compatible (I used the 84 controls from my boat on my 76 motor), I’m not sure what year they stopped the red plug ('93?). I’m in Tooele but work in Salt Lake and can meet you if you’re interested.

I picked up the new motor, it’s a 93 and does have the red plug. I haven’t had a chance to look it over much yet, but maybe this afternoon I’ll start to look things over. I do want to have the trim controls, but as I get into this, I may hit you up on your offer. Thanks so much for replying.. Jeff

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“RockyRaab2, post:7, topic:321323” wrote:

Can’t help you there. Mercury has an option called Vessel View Mobile that plugs into the motor wiring and links by Bluetooth to a phone or tablet and shows all motor data (and a lot more). Dunno nuttin bout no Johnson.

Thanks Rocky… How are you liking your new machine after the Willard trip? Hope it’s treating you very well… Later Jeff

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“2knots, post:8, topic:321323” wrote:

My motor info gets to my fish finder via a NEMA 2000 backbone, it’s not a cheap option
(Cables and connectors)and I wouldn’t of put it in except for the radar and other stuff I needed for running in the ocean so the motor info was a bonus

Thanks Alan, so all the weather and motor stuff are all over the NEMA 2000 backbone… Good to know and probably not very practical for a non-bigwater rig… I was just wondering if it was just a wire I had to hook up to the finder, but sounds a lot more involved, probably wouldn’t use it much anyway, since I need the screens for importanter stuff like where the fish are… Thanks for the info… Jeff

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“2knots, post:10, topic:321323” wrote:

“SkunkedAgain, post:6, topic:321323” wrote:

“packfish, post:5, topic:321323” wrote:

I rewired a 1975 115 Merc a couple of years ago- $235 and 2 hrs of my time. If I can do it anyone can. I have a brother who is a guide on Lake Eire he says the mechanics there say you will find parts for your rude/john until you die. I wish I could help on your question but there are forums out there that could answer your question.

I think I was just done with that motor, it had a habit of not working when I needed it to and when Lee’s said the motor needed new wires and the electronic ignition should be replaced and etc. etc… (which probably wasn’t true because the engine still ran) anyway I was just done with it, so I sold it cheap and cut my losses…

I did find a youtube video on rewiring the older (Pre 96) Johnson motors to the newer controls… I think it doesn’t look too bad, but I need to see what I’m up against when I get the motor… not sure how many wires are there to work with… Here’s another question, My Humminbird fish finder has a screen that has all the boat gages and controls on it. What do you have to do, to get your motor to talk to your fish finder? Is it difficult to hook the two units together while I’m already having to rewire the harness? I’m thinking it is possible, but I need to know what you need to have to connect to the fish finder… is this a time to find a good boat forum too? Thanks Jeff

It may also be possible to hook it up with the NEMA 0813 which is all low voltage cable, the 2 extra wires that come out of your fish finder power cord that nobody typically uses is the 0813 cables. You would need to check in your fish finder manual to see what system they are using for the “gauges”. 0813 uses limited codes in sentences and some time won’t read what is coming from the motor or other devices on the boat and can be manufacture specific hence the move to NEMA 2000. Motor age could be an issue also to tie into the FF as it may be strictly analog out put to a typical gauge. Let me know if you need a hand putting any of it together Jeff

Hey Alan, the finder is the NEMA 2000 system, and I’ll just use the gage in the boat for the tach, that’s really the only one I rely on much, since my boat is too old to have temp gages and other important stuff… If I get stuck on the install, I may hit you up for a little help hooking up wires… Thanks Jeff PS… I think this motor should make my boat much more capable for the catfish runs… will have to trade cat trips for koke trips this summer…

[2knots]

Sounds good on both accounts Jeff, looking forward to getting some cats this year

[SkunkedAgain]

@2knots

Sounds good on both accounts Jeff, looking forward to getting some cats this year

My project isn’t as far along as yours is, but I’m getting there… Waiting on parts again, got a bunch of ebay and amazon orders on the way… sure hope they are the right ones… Starting to worry about the battery cables being too short… Anyway I’ve done about everything I can do until more parts arrive… I think I’ll need one more cable for the power trim, but I need to see what comes with the one wire harness I picked up… Sure hope I don’t have to buy that $300 wire harness, but some references say I need to… I figure I’ll buy connectors and pins and just rework the wires if I have to… found a broken ground wire on the motor, I’ll bet that may have been a problem for the motor, but he said it was running great so maybe not… Anyway with the ice off the boat ramps, I wish I was running, but probably be a week or two before I am… Project has been kind of fun so far, hope it stays that way… I’m excited about this new motor, I think it will be just the ticket for my boat… Later Jeff