Mercruiser 140 Outdrive Wiring

[Faerbairn]

1979 Mercuiser 140hp, Serial # 5332813

Mercruiser 140 Outdrive # 5337746

My problem: I have 4 wires coming from my outdrive. They are all crumbling, exposed, and are about to go. How far into the outdrive do I need to go to replace the wires? Also, two of the wires are not connected to anything. They are loose, yet the outdrive tilt function seems to be working fine. Any ideas what the two wires are for?

Thank you for your help.

 

[MercMonster]

Re: Mercruiser 140 Outdrive Wiring

This is where they most likely go to:

Picture is showing the back sides of the trim sender and limit switch. (See the remnants of the old crumbled wiring still inside?) These are the trim limit (TL) switch and trim position (TP) sender. Mounted over the gimbal ring hinge pins. You remove the hinge pins (specialty tool) to remove the bell housing. Do you have a trim position gauge on your dash? Does your trim limit work? Check out this thread for replacing, otherwise you will have to remove the bell housing and bellows to get at them more easily. Cost for a new harness with switch and sender is around $90 or so. Friend just got him a "new" boat and the trim wires look exactly the same as mine did and yours does now. Just falling apart... You don't necessarily need to replace if you can "sense" when you are trimming out too far.