Problem with Trim Up

[jscott84]

Hello, I have a 1993 Bayliner Capri 1850. Mercruiser Alpha One 3.0L MCM. It has a toggle switch for the trim up/down. It also has a separate "trailer" button to raise the prop. The down and trailer work fine. But the Up doesn't do anything. No noise at all when pressed. I bought the boat about a month ago and it worked one time but only for a few seconds then stopped. This hasn't been too big of an issue since I can still raise it by pressing "trailer" but I'd like to get this fixed. Any ideas on what could be wrong? Thanks!

 

[BAproject]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

2 things to look at

1. Is the up solenoid toast.....and does your trailer up toggle work

2. The wiring to the trim limiter switch on the outdrive may have corroded and broken

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Symptoms of a bad trim limit switch. Try this: In back look for a purple/white wire with a black wire going into the connector, and a black wire going into a connector with two blue/white wires coming out. Unplug the black wires and jumper between the two connectors. Trim up should work. If it does you have a bad trim limit switch. Second check: with the trim all the way down resistance through the two black wires should be 0 ohms. The contacts may have corroded or the wires broken. The switch is located on the port side on the gimbal ring. Let us know how it turns out. Good luck

 

[jscott84]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Well I unhooked the wires from the up solenoid and cleaned some corrosion off of them but still nothing. I didn't mess any with the trim switch because looking at my manual, it describes by taking off the plate you are also in the area where adjustments are made and I didn't want to screw anything up worse. But if someone could help walk me through that better, i'll try again. But first, I noticed something today. If I press down on the switch and then immediately press up, it does trip up but for only about 2 seconds and stops. So basically, the only time up works is if I immediately press it after pressing down. Trailer and down still work normal. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Well I unhooked the wires from the up solenoid and cleaned some corrosion off of them but still nothing. I didn't mess any with the trim switch because looking at my manual, it describes by taking off the plate you are also in the area where adjustments are made and I didn't want to screw anything up worse. But if someone could help walk me through that better, i'll try again. But first, I noticed something today. If I press down on the switch and then immediately press up, it does trip up but for only about 2 seconds and stops. So basically, the only time up works is if I immediately press it after pressing down. Trailer and down still work normal. Any ideas? Thanks!

OK! Your up solenoid works, and always has because the trailer switch works, cleaning the contacts is fine but it isn't going to get you anywhere. And you are not going to get anywhere until you determine whether you have a bad switch (or wire) in the control handle or a bad trim limit switch (or wire) on the outdrive. You already know the blue/w wire from the control handle to the up solenoid is OK, the trailer works. The wire you have to check is the purple/white one. If you jumper the p/w wire connector to the b/w connector it will tell you exactly what is wrong! If the up switch works: bad trim limit, if it does not: bad control switch, simple as that! Read post #3 again.
P.S. Leave the control handle alone for now, the p/w and b/w wires you need to check are back by the transom. The chances that you have a bad switch in the handle are small compared to a bad trim limit switch.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

OK just reread your post. Try this: run the outdrive all the way down, till it stops. Wait a second or two. Try up. If it works for a short time, then you trim limit switch either has a corroded spot in it or is badly out of adjustment. But you still have to determine if the control handle switch is OK.

 

[redjmp]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

The up button is supposed to disengage when the leg is up more than 17 degrees from all the way down via the trim limit switch on the side of the gimbal housing. The trailer button simply shorts out the limit switch allowing the leg to raise up all the way.

 

[jscott84]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Stonyloam, we had the boat out last night and the up switch worked probably half the time. This is the most its worked since I've owned the boat. Just to clarify before I do the test you described, I jump the purple white wire going to the trim limit switch to the blue/white connection on the up solenoid? I looked around the trim limit swtich and can see the two black wires but I don't see the purple/white. Do I need to disassemble the trim limit switch to access the wiring? I took the first cover off of it, but no wires, just screws to make adjustments so I stopped there because I didn't want to make anything worse. Also you mentioned a possible corroded spot on the trim limit switch, can you explain how to access that area to clean it if needed? Thanks again, you've been a great help!

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Stonyloam, we had the boat out last night and the up switch worked probably half the time. This is the most its worked since I've owned the boat. Just to clarify before I do the test you described, I jump the purple white wire going to the trim limit switch to the blue/white connection on the up solenoid? I looked around the trim limit swtich and can see the two black wires but I don't see the purple/white. Do I need to disassemble the trim limit switch to access the wiring? I took the first cover off of it, but no wires, just screws to make adjustments so I stopped there because I didn't want to make anything worse. Also you mentioned a possible corroded spot on the trim limit switch, can you explain how to access that area to clean it if needed? Thanks again, you've been a great help!

What you have is the switch on the port side, with two black wires coming out of it. Those two wires go through the transom to the inside of the boat and into the two connectors, one with a p/w wire and 1 with 2 b/w wires. Look around under the engine cover. You would unplug the black wires and use a piece of wire to jumper between the two connectors. At that point your up switch should work. That will tell you that your control handle switch is OK. The fact that it is working sometime indicates that the tl switch may just be dirty and not making contact. This is how the thing works: You have the housing attached in a fixed position to the gimbal ring, inside the housing is a copper strip attached to one wire and a movable contact arm that is attached to the gimbal ring pivot pin attached to the other. When your outdrive is all the way down the arm is in contact with the strip. When you raise the outdrive the arm moves across the strip until it ends and contact is broken and the trim up stops. If you took the cover off of the trim limit switch (4 screws) you should be able to see the arm and contacts. You could try hitting it with some contact cleaner, or if feeling brave you disassemble it and clean it up (should not have to touch adjusting screws). I know on the new ones you can remove the arm. Let us know how it works out.

 

[jscott84]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Well I just got done using a jumper wire and testing it. Sure enough, it works fine. So I guess the control handle switch is fine. I'm going to take some contact cleaner to the trim limit switch. But if that doesn't work and it needs replaced, do you recommend having this done professionally? I have found the switches on the internet and also have the engine manual that describes how to replace them but then again, i'm not that great of a mechanic and the manaul also describes the job as "difficult". Thanks again!

 

[ziggy]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

i know ya want it right. but just some food for thought.

my trim limit sw. is nla + a real pain to R&R. it really isn't that big of deal. so i use trailer to trim out. the outcome is the same it's just that i have to use a little judgment as to how far out i trim while underway. the boats attitude/performance tells me if i'm within the limits of trim...

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

I agree with Ziggy, it is a HUGE pita and pretty expensive to have done. You have to pull the outdrive and the bellows, and then remove a couple of difficult to get to screws to replace it, so the time to do it is when you have your bellows replaced. The switch is pretty simple, just a contact arm and a copper strip, you should be able to get it to work. If not and the wires are in pretty good shape you can take a chance, and just cut and splice the new one in. Solder the splice and coat with several layers of liquid tape. In the meantime, as Ziggy says, just leave the jumper wire in and be careful, your boat will tell you when it gets too high. Good luck.

 

[jscott84]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Okay I think i'll hold off on trying to replace the trim limit switch. I'll leave the jumper wire in place as you said. But one more question, is the trim limit switch connected in any way to the "down" or "trailer"? I didn't know if it was likely that either of those 2 could fail next if I don't replace the switch soon?

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

No, the g/w wire from the trim switch goes directly to the down solenoid, and the blue/w wire from the trailer switch goes directly to the connector with the two blue/w wires and then directly to the up solenoid. The trailer and the up trim with the jumper are electrically (both bypass the trim limit switch completely) the same now.

 

[jscott84]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

Thank you all so much! You've been a great help!

 

[atomb]

Re: Problem with Trim Up

sorry for bad post