1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

mainejohn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
107
I was just boating and messing around running the trim up and down. went to dock the boat and get ready to trailer it and will not go up or down. when i push the trim/tilt toggle it sends power to the solinoid and i can here it click, but that is all it does. if i run the boat and try triming it up/down it will pop the little circuit breaker next to the soliniods. what could be the cause? i was plan on going out in the boat for my birthday saturday.
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 31, 2010
Messages
307
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

sounds like the electric motor went
 

mainejohn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 24, 2009
Messages
107
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

what is the best way to tell if it is bad? i dont want to replace it if it doesn't need to be rebuilt.
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 31, 2010
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307
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

i believe the colors of the wires at the pump at purple and green i think.. anyway which ever to wires are at the pump ... have someone in the boat and you at the pump... prope with a 12 volt test lite at the pump and have someone hit the up or down button for the trim pump if your test lite comes on in one way try the other way on the opposite wire if that lites as well then your relays are working and the circuit is good. Therefore your Pump motor has failed .... at that point you can take the pump apart by taking the 2 5/16s long screws out of the top of the motor remove the cover and beware that the 2 brushes are going to pop out with 2 springs once you get the cover off you can inspect the armature and the magnets that are glues to the cylindrical case... if the pump failed it will be obvious what happened inside... DONT TAKE THE PUMP APART UNTIL YOU CHECK THE CIRCUIT ...
 

RRitt

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Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

if you stick a jewelers screwdriver into face of a relay connector then you can depress the locking tab and pull the motor wire out. Pull out the green and blue wires that go to electric trim motor. hook them directly to a 12v battery and see if system works. If not then motor is shot.
 

mainejohn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
107
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

i put a test light on the leads connecting to the magnets and moved the switch up and down and its getting power to it. the bad part is i just put a new pump on last year from a guy on this web site. i seems like it shouldn't burn out that fast. i dont really see any visual defects.
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 31, 2010
Messages
307
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

if you have power at the pump and if you want try was rritt said hes very knowledgable on here but my best guess is even with it being a year old sounds like it failed...
 

RRitt

Captain
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

motor straight to battery is still best. a loose ground in the engine wiring harness or relay connector(s) can cause same symptoms as you describe.
 

mainejohn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
107
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

when i put test light on the leads that are inside the motor it shows that it is getting juice. so it must be something with the motor.
 

RRitt

Captain
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: 1989 85 hp tilt trim stop working!! help

when i put test light on the leads that are inside the motor it shows that it is getting juice. so it must be something with the motor.

1989 trim motor does not have a common ground. It must be switched through relays. If ground is lacking then you can easily measure positive voltage at motor but still not work. Sure, it's probably a motor but why go to all the trouble of taking it off without checking the easy stuff first?
 
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