Re: 1970 85 hp V4

[eviltwin]

I may be too late, but I had an Evinrude 40 hp with the push button hydro electric shift. I lost reverse the last year I owned it. I cleaned all the contacts from the box on the back of the motor and (if I recall correctly) it turned out to be the ground wire that went to the bolt on the cylinder head that fixed it. Wished I had found that sooner. It was a pretty decent motor, had it on a pontoon boat. One other time it got left out in a monsoon and would not turn over. That turned out to be the connections inside the shift lever box. They literally were green and furry. Cleaned all of those an it worked like a champ. I pretty much drained & refilled the lower unit every time I used it.

Good luck!