Mercruiser tilt/trim question and my own personal rant

[Cptkid570]

Ok,
1996 Mercruiser 5.7 alpha. Typical tilt trim motor.

1. My rant. Why is a tilt trim system made so complicated with relays and such. The motor itself has 3 wires to it.

2. My question, can you just make sure that the motor is grounded and then run the other 2 wires (green and blue??) to a toggle switch? What is the rationale for the relays and all the get up? I know that there are sensor switches and stuff, but to the experienced boater, I can set my tilt/trim better by the sound of the tilt/trim (all the way down) and then the # of pushes I give it to come up (my best settting is all the way down and then bring it up just a bit).

I'm sorry to sound so ignorant about the entire system, and the relay is only like $20, but I just feel like the system is more complicated than it has to be. When my "up" don't work, I can just jumper it and it goes up.

Just wondering..

Thank you everyone. Hope your non-boating season is going well. Remember, keep the movable parts moving over the winter (steering, shift cables, etc)

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser tilt/trim question and my own personal rant

Ok,
1996 Mercruiser 5.7 alpha. Typical tilt trim motor.

1. My rant. Why is a tilt trim system made so complicated with relays and such. The motor itself has 3 wires to it.

2. My question, can you just make sure that the motor is grounded and then run the other 2 wires (green and blue??) to a toggle switch? What is the rationale for the relays and all the get up? I know that there are sensor switches and stuff, but to the experienced boater, I can set my tilt/trim better by the sound of the tilt/trim (all the way down) and then the # of pushes I give it to come up (my best settting is all the way down and then bring it up just a bit).

I'm sorry to sound so ignorant about the entire system, and the relay is only like $20, but I just feel like the system is more complicated than it has to be. When my "up" don't work, I can just jumper it and it goes up.

Just wondering..

Thank you everyone. Hope your non-boating season is going well. Remember, keep the movable parts moving over the winter (steering, shift cables, etc)

Ayuh,.... Without the solenoids, the wirin' won't take the Amps...

If yer havin' trouble with the trim limit switch, it can be by-passed, just inside the transom,...
Just unplug, 'n replug the wires together..

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: Mercruiser tilt/trim question and my own personal rant

My tilt/trim sensors stopped working long ago. I guess I'm just upset that the system stopped working all together. To test the motor, can I just take it off, run the black wire to a negative and then the other wire (blue or green) to the positive? To see if it is the motor that is out or if it is a relay? I tried to jumper it and the wire just got hot with no movement, so I think the motor is out.

 

[achris]

Re: Mercruiser tilt/trim question and my own personal rant

... To test the motor, can I just take it off, run the black wire to a negative and then the other wire (blue or green) to the positive? ....

Yes

 

[matt167]

Re: Mercruiser tilt/trim question and my own personal rant

If the relays or switches quit, you can operate the motors with a screwdriver, just like you can a starter solenoid..

Relays are in pretty much every high current 12v circuit. The average switch is rated for 10A, much less than the draw of a trim pump.