Transom trim control switch?

[oldprocraft]

Hi - We took our circa 1989 Procraft w/150 Evinrude fishing a week or so ago in the rain. After trailoring it back to the house and parking it I looked out and noticed the engine up. Figured my bro had forgot to leave it down. Ran out and put it down using the transom trim control. Engine stayed down so I ran in from the rain. Looked out - engine back up. I put it back down and it stayed there for about 20 seconds and started going up again. Was now soaked and tired of this game so I disconnected battery.

Took the boat out again yesterday was hoping we just had a short from the rain. Hooked battery back up and everything seemed fine. Got to the lake - took off the transom saver - still seemed fine but right as we were getting ready to back in it started going up. I ended up jiggling the toggle on the switch and it stopped and didn't misbehave for the next 5 hours of fishing. Trailored boat and it started again but now down doesn't work. I can hold the transom switch toggle so the engine won't rise but my other 2 controls will do nothing but raise engine. I'm leaning towards this switch being the problem since when we didn't use it we were fine for 5 hours although I'm not sure why it is messing up the other 2. The switch has 3 posts with a red wire connecting to the top, red in the middle and black on the bottom. From my research so far I was expecting blue, red and green. If you have any suggestions on how to troubleshoot I'd appreciate it. Sorry this is so long winded.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Transom trim control switch?

When you hold one switch in one direction, neither of the other two can override that function. They are all wired so that only one can be used at a time. Remember, one set of relays are used that are controlled by (apparently) three trim switches. Disconnect each switch and see which one is the offender.

 

[oldprocraft]

Re: Transom trim control switch?

Is there a way to bypass the switch without disconnecting? The transom one is soldered and in a tight spot. Is there a way to jump the posts and effectively bypass? If I do cut the wires can I just cap them for now? Thanks - wiring is definitely not a strong point for me.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Transom trim control switch?

If its permanently connected you obviously can't bypass it. If you have a voltmeter and can get at the switch terminals you can take voltage measurements to see which switch is ON when it should be off. One terminal on each switch will have +12V on it at all times. That's the "feed" for the system. Moving the rocker one direction causes 12V on one of the other two terminals. Moving it the other way, does the same thing to the other terminal. If you find a switch with +12V on two of the terminals when the rocker is NOT actuated, that would be the bad switch.

 

[oldprocraft]

Re: Transom trim control switch?

Thanks for the help Silvertip. The switch was bad so I replaced. I still had no down trim though. Cleaned the relay connections and it is now working.

Thanks again.