sputter and near stalling while trimming

[Shadow66]

I have a 2002 Stingray 180 LX with Mercruiser 3.0 Sterndrive. The last three times I have gone out it seems like there is a slight loss of power when starting out or when in or near idle when I trim the outdrive. In fact one time when I trimmed while at idle it stalled. Like the trimming is draining power from the engine (too much). Otherwise she runs amazing 42mph and WOT 4800RPM's. Severe clear on the lake the other day, what a great day besides for this.

I changed the plugs, cleaned carb, changed and cleaned all filters, I have a new battery (2 of them) etc...and general maintenance before last time out to see if that may have been a contributing factor...not. I never changed the wires/cap/rotor. Or cleaned maybe some unseen connection you may point me to.

I am thinking now I have to look at the trim. One more thing, my trim gauge is messed up and not working. It flips all over the place when I trim up or down and is useless. The trim sensors are obviously shot...Could this somehow be the issue?

Thanks for your help.

 

[JustJason]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

Put a digital multimeter on the + sid eof the coil, and ground the other end of it. At idle speed, record your voltage.
Now trim up, does the voltage drop, and what does it drop to?

 

[swihartart]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

Bad ground is my guess.

I say that because of the way the needle on your guage jumps around.

 

[Shadow66]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

I'll check that this weekend Jason, thanks for the place to start.

Put a digital multimeter on the + sid eof the coil, and ground the other end of it. At idle speed, record your voltage.
Now trim up, does the voltage drop, and what does it drop to?

 

[yam 3]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

Mine did the same thing...my alternator was dying. I had 10 volts reading on the guage when I got to the dock.

 

[swihartart]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

check your ground for trim, the reason I say this is because last week I took all the wiring off the starter and ground while doing other maintenance.

I've been systematically restoring a 1977 Starcraft Capri.
My posts were corroded and starter had rust on casing so I took it off to paint it and clean my elec. connections.
I also took off the ground wires on the block.

After I put everything back together I hit my trim button to raise the drive and the guage went nuts...after looking into it there was a wire that I didn't put back to ground and once I reattached it...no problem.

I know your trim works (mine didn't without wire hooked up) but it could be working with a semi-bad ground but with much resistance.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

Sounds like the trim motor is drawing too much current, robbing it from the ignition. Likely at idle your alt may not be producing any voltage. Check voltage at idle, and slightly over idle.

 

[Shadow66]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

Thanks for all the advice and places to look at. I will check everything this weekend and let you know how it goes. That alternator issue looks really possible for a few reasons.

I will also try cleaning all connections at the alternator/starter and grounds first. But then check that voltage output. Thanks!

 

[Shadow66]

Re: sputter and near stalling while trimming

It took a while but I finally got to test the boat today. The voltage from the alternator was perfect at idle and while trimming it dipped for a second but then went back to normal. All is well with the alternator, batteries and grounds.

But I did notice that with the boat out of the water the trim gauge works fine. I checked the wiring visually on the trim limiters on both sides and they look fine. I wasn't sure if this could be part of the problem when they are in the water.

So, in the water the trim gauge jumps like crazy and the power drops while trimming. Out of the water, all is well. Hmmmm.