'97 Regal - Outdrive Trims Down When Starting/Starter Spins When Trimming

[ijsaul]

Aloha,

First off, my Regal 2100 LSR 5.7GL PLKR has been through a ton of modification over the past year. Rebuilt DP-S (upgrade from SX), new intake manifold (upgrade to 4 barrel from 2), new Holley carb, new ignition components, gauges, new throttle control box, starter, alternator, batteries, etc.

The problem started intermittently after the out drive was installed, however, many other project were going on with the boat at that time, and the company that installed it mentioned there may be 'electrical issues', and I'm not confident in their skill.

The issue consists of a short circuit somewhere along the start/trim circuits. Whenever the engine is cranking, the drive slowly trims down. Once the engine has started, the issue disappears. This past weekend, I lost trim control while out on the water after ~30 minutes. I reset the trim relay, and it worked again for a short period, before failing again. Now, when I press the trim down button, the engine cranks. This behavior just started this past weekend. Additionally, the tachometer frequently pegs itself out to 6K, flutters around, and occasionally settles on the correct RPM. This happens mostly at idle, and we have managed to settle it down by temporarily attaching a direct positive 12v run from the battery to coil.

I'm very mechanically and somewhat electrically inclined, and I was wondering if anyone had some similar experiences or ideas, other than pull off all the side trim and start testing wire runs.

Thanks! -Ian

 

[Don S]

Re: '97 Regal - Outdrive Trims Down When Starting/Starter Spins When Trimming

If your trim/tilt buttons are in the throttle/shift control handle. I would be looking at the wiring in the control first and the harness going to the trim pump and engine from the control. The neutral safety switch (Yellow/red wire for the starter) and the up and down trim control wiring are all next to each other. Perhaps they got shorted with a screw or the wires caught between something and mashed together.

 

[ijsaul]

Re: '97 Regal - Outdrive Trims Down When Starting/Starter Spins When Trimming

As I'm having the windows re-tinted (first tint job was too dark to be safe, IMO), the interior side paneling is off, and all of the wiring is easily accessible. I started by disconnecting the 2 red/yellow wires that connected into the throttle/trim control, and found that the boat would not start. After some testing, I merely connected the 2 red/yellow wires from the boat itself, therefore bypassing the throttle completely, and the drive trims correctly, and starts fine, with none of the prior symptoms.

The old wiring was as follows:

Key -> Throttle/Trim -> Starter? (Red/yellow all the way through).

Now it's just:

Key -> Starter

I can see on this throttle where there is a place for an overboard button, however, mine is on the dash near the key, and still functions fine. I'm wondering what could possibly have caused this behavior, merely by hooking those wires into the rest of the boat.

Any thoughts? Thanks! -Ian

 

[ijsaul]

Re: '97 Regal - Outdrive Trims Down When Starting/Starter Spins When Trimming

After doing some research, it's now obvious that I bypassed the neutral lockout switch. Which now seems to indicate that I have a faulty unit, with some type of internal short, which is creating all of these problems, but makes perfect sense.