The ESA system bypass.

[keeponkeepnon]

The instruction manual says to bypass the ESA system. When I did this it caused my motor to die completely. After putting a lot of thought into it I just can not see how the system could stall the engine at the appropriate time when you shift and not at other times. With all of the sensors removed I can't figure out how it would be possible. I am not sure how Mercury does it, I am only familiar with the OMC system. At present I am buying parts to reinstall my ESA.
1. Can you explain how the engine would be stalled only when shifting when the ESA is bypassed as described in the instruction manual?
2. Would I be better off stalling the engine the way Merc does it instead of the way OMC does it? If so, can you explain that system or direct me to another source that has a schematic or explanation?

Thanks, Brant.

[admin]

Brant,

It may be best to call and ask for tech support. I will give explaining it a shot.

If you look at the shift bracket, you will notice the v shaped lever is able to move. What happens when you shift is the clutch initially does not want to let go. This creates tension on tbe shift cable which causes the lever to move which then trips the switch. It does not stall the engine except while shifting out of gear.

You mentioned that yours is stalling (not runnig at all). This could only happen if you have a bad switch or it is wired wrong or your shift adjustment is way off The switch has two wires. One wire must go to the negative side of the coil. The other wire must go to ground. If you have it wired like that and it is not working, then the switch is most likely bad.

The omc system only stumbles the engine, so the mercruiser way is better as it kills all spark momentarily while shifting out of gear.

As an experiment, get a helper and try this:
Remove the ignition key, and to be really safe, disconnect the battery.
Put the unit in forward gear and have somebody put pressure on the prop in a counter rotation direction. Then shift to neutral. Now look at the v shaped lever. You will notice the v lever has activated the switch. Then if they let tbe pressure of the prop, the lever will return to the normal position.

If you are not understanding this, please call as that will speed this up and help you to understand it quicker.

Tech Support

[keeponkeepnon]

Am I completely off? Do you leave the switch in place and connect the ground and the negative terminal on the coil to the switch itself? I thought the switch was removed and you connected the new wires to the wires which were cut from the harness.

Ok I think I got it now.

[admin]

Sounds like you got it. The switch stays in place and you hook the new wires to the switch.

Tech Support