tilt/trim sender

[pconsolini]

I have a pre-owned 88 4 winns 16' with an OMC Cobra i/o. All the illustrated parts lists I've seen and the Clymer shop manual (and the wiring diag in the 4 winns owners manual) all show a tilt/trim sender and gauge, though the boat doesn't have the gauge!?!<br />Was this an option? There isn't any indication it was ever installed. There is a part (blank cover?) on the lower unit where the sender is supposed to be. If there isn't one, is it a big deal to add one? and where would you feed the wires thru the transom?

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: tilt/trim sender

Paul...are you sure you are looking in the right place on the drive? I always thought that OMC shipped the Cobras with the sender because they don't know what boat it's going on. The sender is held on with 2 screws almost halfway down on the starboard side of the transom mount bracket, it's round with a spring loaded arm sticking out that follows the drive up and down. It has 2 wires coming out that go through the transom mount bracket up high very near the hydraulic lines for the trim. The wires come with a rubber grommet on it which seals the hole when the wires are put through, near the back of the engine you should see a 2 pin round connector, if you have the guage there is a connector plugged that goes up to the dash.

 

[iwldntli2u]

Re: tilt/trim sender

If you have the trim on the engine mounts then there is no guage. The 80's OMC 4 bangers trim by changing the angle of the engine. Some models did not come with a trim guage. If you are wondering you can only get 7 degree with this system.

 

[pconsolini]

Re: tilt/trim sender

To Ski Rob: nope,this definitely trims by tilting the outdrive unit.<br />To Boatin Bob: found the 2-wire cable from the sensor to the back of the engine. It goes into a plug with what appears to be an in-line fuse and then disappears into the main harness as one brown and one black wire. Looked behind the dash but didn't see any brown wires in the rats-nest that's there. Again, it looks like the gauge was never installed as there's no hole in the dash for it. If I fell ambitious I'll have to trace the wires back through the harness.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: tilt/trim sender

Paul...looks like you found it although that should be just a watertight 2 pin connector (not an inline fuse) according to the wiring diagram the wire you want is brown with white up at the dash, the other wire (black) just goes off to ground. If you want to post your email address I can attach a copy of the Cobra dash wiring diagram...

 

[pconsolini]

Re: tilt/trim sender

To Boatin Bob: Thanks for the offer, but I found the sensor wire bundled up in the harness. Not brown-white but purple-white. So much for standardization. The harness diagram in my Clymer's matches your colors so maybe they ran out of brown-white wire that day

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: tilt/trim sender

Paul....now that you have found the sender and traced the wire up to the dash are you going to do the next step and install the guage? (that should be the easy part)

 

[tylerin]

Re: tilt/trim sender

I have this set up and the gauge is mandatory cause its set up with a red line like a tach so you don't over trim it.

 

[pconsolini]

Re: tilt/trim sender

Already have (sort of). After being assured by the clerk that an Evenrude/Johnson/Suzuki Teleflex gauge would work, drilled the hole and connected it up only to find it read backwards. Actually needed the other version of the gauge for Mercury/Volvo/etc. Returned the backwards one and am waiting for a replacement. At least I know the sender is working

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: tilt/trim sender

That's too bad Paul...if you go to this Teleflex page and scroll down to the sender chart you will see that Cobras are not the same as John/Evin/Suzuki Teleflex Trim Senders/Guage

 

[pconsolini]

Re: tilt/trim sender

Actually that's the sheet that's included with the gauge and how I found I needed the other version. Against my better judgement I took the clerk's word for it, who by the way was quite surprised by what I told him. Hard to find knowledgeable people manning the stores these days (ie Home Depot).