hi was wondering if anyone could help me? i have a Shakespeare 44lb outboard motor that has decided that it only wants to go forward even when i put it to reverse it continues to drive forward! hopefully someone can help

Adrian up at butterstone fixes them. He's on here as butterstone loch

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Hi
I had a different problem but to be honest my engine has done alot of work.

It sounds like the little allen key grub screw has come out. It is positioned at the back of the handle you will need to remove the head casing. Put the handle into neutral the chances are if it is missing the handle will spin with out turning the switch.

If not it could be the contacts

Open the head of the engine and at the back of the engine compatrment you will see a little black box with I think 5 wires sticking out. With a marker mark the colour to the position of the wire so you will know how to put back together.

Pull the wires off, they are only spade end connections and undo the little grub screw at the handle and the screws at the side of the box.

With the box in your hand open the 3 screws on the top an check the connections you might have to move them back into position

If all else fails change the poles from positive-positive to positive-negative this will change the foreward gears to reverse.

Hope this helps

thanks for the information il give it a go at weekend and post how i get on

the first thing to go wrong with an electric outboard is usually the switch. sounds like it's the case with yours too.

That little black box at the back is the switch. With mine the contacts had worn so it wouldn't go into foreward at all, any gears, but could drive in reverse.

With blobsters it sounds like it is stuck in foreward. So the handle could be missing that wee grub. Check if it moves the black insert at the back or is just spinning around it

The same thing happened to me last year. I e-mailed Shakespeare and they sent me a new switch free of charge. Make a note (or a photo) of which wire goes where though, as there were no instructions with the new switch. Other than that it was a pretty easy job.