1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

[whalerbob]

I own a 1995 Boston Whaler Outrage with a 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht engine.

I have tilt/trim switches on the throttle as well as on the engine housing.

The tilt started to not operate intermittently, it would work when I first got to the boat but after using it it would not work, but would work the next day. Finally it has stopped working all together.

I have the factory manual for this engine and I am mechanically savvy, I ran just about all the tests listed in the manual including testing the switches, checking the relays with an ohm meter and running the tilt motor directly to the battery.I did this by connecting the battery to the connecter that runs from the tilt motor to the relay box. The motor works fine when wired directly to the battery, the switches all appear to be working fine. I'm getting juice to the switches and throughout the harness. When I press the tilt switches I hear the relays click but nothing happens after that. The relays all appear to be the same so I switched them around and it did work briefly when I swapped two of them but only briefly. Could one of my relays be hanging up?

Any advice on what to do next would be greatly appreciated and no I am not getting rid of my ficht engine it has run perfectly for me for 8 years.

 

[Will Bark]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

What has always given me trouble with trim motor not working is the connection between the motor and the relay box. About once a year I have to disconnect this connector and clean the metal and then spray battery cleaner in each side. This has always been my problem but I operate in salt water which is probably the cause. Hope this is where your problem is.

 

[whalerbob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

Thanks for your feedback Tom, I have had that connector off several times and it does not appear to be corroded but what you are saying makes sense. On my boat the wires (2 - Green and Blue) from the tilt motor run directly to a connector that plugs into the relay box, when I direct wired the motor I ran the wires from the battery to this connector and it worked fine. I will revisit this connector and see if it needs attention but I suspect the problem happens before it gets to this connection.

 

[whalerbob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

Where are all the Johnson outboard gurus?

 

[Will Bark]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

Did you connect a volt meter to the connector part from the relays and see if you are getting voltage to that pont; if so, then someting is not making contact at the connector. If not, then you are correct something in the relay box is not working. Someone else should chime in you have had 40 plus views on this. Good luck

 

[seahorse5]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

I own a 1995 Boston Whaler Outrage with a 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht engine.

Where are all the Johnson outboard gurus?

The Johnson FICHT 175 was produced only in 1997 and 1998.

What is your engine model number so we know what motor you really have?

 

[whalerbob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

Now we're cooking, your absolutely right, my bad! the motor is a 1998 Model #J175FSXECS, Serial #G 04500671

First I put an Ohm meter on the connector from the motor that plugs into the relay box as well as the connector in the relay box and they both read continuity (should it?), I put the voltage meter on the connector in the relay box and it said I had voltage when I pressed either up or down on the switch. And I ran wires from the connector that plugs into the relay box directly to the battery and I was able to get the motor to move up and down.
Well I have checked and cleaned every ground that I could find on the boat without success, I started focusing on the relay box again and proceeded to start removing the tape from the wires. When I was doing this I had the key in the on position without realizing it, I found the ignition turning on(the normal beep) and then shutting off, it's obvious there is a short here and I think I narrowed it down to a specific wire within the connector that connects to the relay box, this specific connector has four wires white/red, red/purple, black, red. It appears it is the red/purple wire that is shorting at the connector so this tell me either the wire is not connected properly in the connector or the female connector on the relay is faulty. How do you clean these connectors? The openings on the male side are so small and I can't figure out how to get the wires with connectors out of the plastic housing. Does it make sense to pull the relay box off? Are there wires behind it that I should be checking?

Despite this, no matter how much I played with the wires I could not get the tilt to work. But the problem related to the trim must be in the relay area.

 

[whalerbob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

This is a picture for the connector i am referring to.

http://s1176.photobucket.com/albums/x321/whalerbob/

 

[Will Bark]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

You may try spraying battery cleaner to both sides of the connector and see if that helps getting a positive contact. On my motor there are wires behind the relay box and there may be on yours that are giving you a faulty connection. You must be getting close now.

 

[whalerbob]

Re: 1995 Johnson 175 Ficht - Tilt won't work

After cleaning just about every connection on the motor and in the console I finally found the short that was not allowing my tilt/trim to work. It was in the coupling of the wires that come directly off the trim motor, I popped the wires out of the coupling and the connectors were corroded. I cleaned them up as well as the blades on the relay box that accepts this coupling and I was back in action.
I managed to create another problem in the process but I will start a new thread for that issue. Thanks for all the input.