have questions about power trim relays

[tustin77]

i have a 1989 force 85 hp and changed the trim motor and valve body filled with fliud and it ran up and down twice and wouldnt move again after this. when i jump the motor to battery direct it works fine. my ? is when i try and use the switch to get motor to run up or down nothing. all i get is a clicking out of the relays. what would cause this other than dirty connections and how can i tell if relays are bad? i read if you hear them clicking than that means they are working correctly is this true? and final question would i hear the clicking noise if they werent get power?

 

[ahickman]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

Definitely sounds like the relays are not closing correctly. Most of those relays can be taken apart very easily with a small flat blade screwdriver. Pry off the cover and take some fine grit sandpaper across the contacts. I just slip the paper through and pull a couple of times. Before doing so, you may want to put the two leads of a volt/ohm meter across the two pins that are supposed to open/close (e.g. your main battery line) and look to see if the meter goes from infinite (or O.L. if using a digital meter) to 0.0 ohms when you flip the trim switch. If your meter stays on infinite or some large value, your contacts are not closing.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

relays are basically a small solenoid used to connect a large current carryuing switch--very much like a small starting solenoid. It is possible for the solenoid section to operate and close but the current carrying contacts to be burned or broken.

Since it is difficult to isolate which relay has failed, replace both. You can save a little money by getting some out of a junkyard. The relays are standard and if yours have the mounting tab, that will be the only difference.

 

[RRitt]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

on the side of your engine pan (bottom half of cowl) there is a circuit breaker. make sure it is reset.

 

[tustin77]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

thanks for the answers. i figured it was relays by what i read but i wanted to be able to test them to know. i know you can get them for a few bucks and easy done. and ill have to look and see if i see that breaker you are talking about rritt. thanks again for the help,let yens know what happens from here.

 

[tustin77]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

so i messed around and wasted money on relays that didnt work. but after switching relays from one side to other and resetting breaker i got it to work but it kicked breaker again while i was out testing it in water. on land went up and down several times no clitches. so im lead to believe that either the relays (five wire flashers from autozone) were bad or the breaker is bad.. are the flasher/ relay an acceptible replacement or did i get the wrong thing? when they click they make a differant sound then my oem ones, they kind of sound like turn signals instead of a clicking noise.

 

[tustin77]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

b should aslso stae that i didnt end up useing the autozone ones this was all with the original relays.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

They are standard 5 pin relays and I always get a bunch out of a U-Pull-It junkyard. For a 2 dollar entrance fee I get at least 10 of them. They always work. Some have built in mounting tabs and are screwed to the firewall while others are plain. Some Chevy/Buick ones have a weatherproof seal on the base--I use what I find.

While relays can be tested with a VOM, very few people carry one on the water. Thus: Carry a known good set and if the trim stops working in either direction, simply change both relays.

 

[tustin77]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

thanks frank

 

[RRitt]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

If it worked before breaker tripped then your new motor is drawing more amps than the breaker handles. pull the breaker and replace with something else. I like using inline ATC holder with 10Awg wires and self-resetting cole hersee 30A breakers. A $8 cheaper version would be using ATC fuse but then you don't have convenience of self-reset.

 

[datastream]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

(Moderately useless response here, but felt like typing something)

My t/t breaker tripped when my rectifier was bad. But I don't think that's your problem. Unless...your rectifier is half bad. Sounds more like a 'leaky' ground issue somewhere as it happens while in the water.

 

[tustin77]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

What ever the problem was it self fixed itself cause had it out all night and no problems

 

[riptorn]

Re: have questions about power trim relays

Check the wire grommet going into the tilt motors to make sure water isn't getting in.