Trim pump justs clicks and doesn't pump in the up or down position

[Ed Harris]

Trim pump justs clicks and doesn't pump in the up or down position. Boat also has a Mercruiser 140 but I have lost the lower manifold drain plug. What size is this plug and thread design?

TIA

edharris

 

[alldodge]

Start by checking battery cables, both ends and be sure they are clean and shinny metal.
Is battery fully charged to at least 12.6V?
When up or down is pressed, what is the voltage measured on the red wire going to the pump?

The manifold plug is NPT thread, measure the hole and we can figure it out

 

[Bondo]

but I have lost the lower manifold drain plug. What size is this plug and thread design?

Ayuh,..... Either 1/8" pipe, or 1/4" pipe plug,.....

 

[Bt Doctur]

pinky-=1/8 pipe plug
ring finger= 1/4 pipe plug
thumb = 3/8 pipe plug

 

[Ed Harris]

Thanks for the replies. Going to take a few days to check everything out, with stupid work stuff going on.

 

[Ed Harris]

Cleaned the terminals and the connectors before starting this.
I have 13 volts at the main red wire. Also have 13 volts across the solenoids. when the button is pressed the voltage across the two terminals drops to 0. thats all i have for now because it got dark on me.

 

[kenny nunez]

What year engine do you have? Is the top of your pump motor square or round?

 

[Ed Harris]

1985 engine and it is somewhat round

 

[kenny nunez]

There is a good chance that the brushes in the commutator head are stuck in their holders and not contacting the armature. Try lightly tapping on the side of the field frame, if the pump starts to run then that is what is wrong. Sometimes this may not work.
You will have to remove the relay bracket for access to the 5/16” hex bolt Hopefully the hardware is not rusted and stuck.
Depending on the location of the pump in the boat can make this repair easy or a real PITA.
The brushes may still be good but the commutator surface might be badly pitted. If it is and you have access to a lathe it can be salvaged. Sometimes all that is needed is cleaning with sand paper.
When the commutator head is removed there is a small ball bearing in the end of the armature shaft, do not lose it! If the brushes are stuck they will be in their holders. Carefully pull out the brushes and the spring. Cut a 6” length of coat hanger wire and form a “V” about 2” spread on the end. Drop the ball bearing in the commutator head and put some grease to hold it in place. With the brushes in their holder use the “V” shaped wire to keep the brushes in place so that the cover can be replaced, after the cover is in place pull the wire out.
If the brushes are worn out a new commutator head can be obtained from Sierra marine and soldered back in place.
If you remove the armature you will have to be careful re-installing so that the drive end is fully engaged in the pump base.
As you can see I have done this repair many times and this is the best way to do it. The service manual does not say anything about how to keep the brushes in place to install the cover.
Of course this is if you have made sure the electrical system is supplying proper current to the motor.

 

[H20Rat]

Disconnect the wires going to the 'down' solenoid and try it again. I had identical symptoms, the wiring in my control handle had frayed after years of use, and hitting up or down was energizing BOTH solenoids, locking the entire system out.

 

[harringtondav]

Those solenoid contacts take a beating, especially over time. The pull-in coil will click, but eroded contacts won't deliver enough voltage to run the pump, but could still measure on your meter. If you're ballsy, careful, and have a well ventilated bilge you can try jumping across the B+ solenoid terminals to the pump feed terminals. If the pump starts, suspect the solenoid. If not, likely a problem in the pump

 

[Ed Harris]

All wires are cleaned and shined. Grounds are all clean and shines. I took the main hot wire touched it to the blue/white and touched it to the green/white and nothing happened. Both solenoids were bypassed this was direct to the pump and of course the grounds were still hooked up on the solenoids

 

[harringtondav]

I got to the same point 1.5 yrs ago. Here is my solution. Hard to believe with the price, but it is new, not reman and has been working fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019GUK21G/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[alldodge]

All wires are cleaned and shined. Grounds are all clean and shines. I took the main hot wire touched it to the blue/white and touched it to the green/white and nothing happened. Both solenoids were bypassed this was direct to the pump and of course the grounds were still hooked up on the solenoids

If you have verified there is 12V on the hot wire (used a meter) then you could disconnect the 2 wires coming from the pump to the relays. Once disconnected, apply 12V and ground to the wires to see if the pump runs

 

[scoflaw]

I got to the same point 1.5 yrs ago. Here is my solution. Hard to believe with the price, but it is new, not reman and has been working fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019GUK21G/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chinese crap for sure, Your DB luck has been better than mine. Bought a pump with a 1 year warranty, and it failed at 1 year 1 week. They wouldn't do anything for me. I said " how bought selling me some parts for it" they said they don't sell parts and everything comes from China.

 

[harringtondav]

Chinese crap for sure, Your DB luck has been better than mine. Bought a pump with a 1 year warranty, and it failed at 1 year 1 week. They wouldn't do anything for me. I said " how bought selling me some parts for it" they said they don't sell parts and everything comes from China.

The original is still on the bench. Always planned to attempt a fix. Maybe time to move that job up to the "A" list.

 

[Ed Harris]

Actually I disconnected all the wires from the pump. Had the blue /white connected to the hot the black ground connected to the battery negative and Pump motor didnt nudge. Nothing happened. Crickets

 

[alldodge]

Guess you need a pump.
If your up to it, could take it apart to see if it can be fix. Might be a broken connection on a brush

 

[scoflaw]

Use just the blue and green on the + and - batt. terminals. This is how an outboard trim pump works even though it has a black ground wire. You got nothing to lose.

If you do open it up, I'll bet it's a brush stuck in the holder with corrosion.

 

[kenny nunez]

If you cannot repair the motor as my description on post #9 then maybe this may help.
ARCO Marine p/n 6217& p/n TAK217 are the motor mounted on the upper pump reservoir and the seal kit. You use the pump section over.