Trim goes down but not up.

[Ron-O]

1991 Cheetah. Mercruiser 4.3 I/O Serial OC753276.

I'm trying to figure out why the solenoid is not kicking in to raise the motor. The down works fine, nice click from the down solenoid. I swapped the blue and green wires and then I can raise it. No click at all from the up solenoid. Have power at the main connection but when I hit the trim up the other connection that should have power has nothing. I put the wire back on the 2 solenoids I can raise it by jumpering power to the other side (blue wire). Anything else to check before just replacing the solenoid?

Ron

 

[cooter2506]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Sounds like a broken wire to the trim limit switch. Switch is located on the out drive on the outer housing. There are two switches one is the sender for the trim guage and the other is for the limit switch. If limit switch has broken wires or is bad it will not let you raise the outdrive. To see the switches you might ahve to push the outdrive to the right and to the left.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Here is some more info for your boat. The engine and drive is a 1989 model
So don't tell anyone you have a 91 drive, that would be an alpha I gen II, and you don't have that, you have a regular Alpha I drive.
That's not bad, just different when you look for parts and manuals.

ENG: 0C753276 443B100BS MERCRUISER 4.3L ALPHA
DRV: 0C836971 5010184BS MERCRUISER ALPHA 1.84:1
TRN: 0C830089 6010000BS MERCRUISER ALPHA

You need manual #6 for your drive, here is a link to it for the free, online one.

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6covr3.pdf

Just click on the link, scroll to the last page (manual outline) and click on section 1C Troubleshooting. You will get detailed instructions on testing the trim system.

 

[Ron-O]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Thanks for the manual info. When I get hom tonight I'll check to see if I get power to "8" in the pics. Also, I'll try to bypass the limit switch and see if that works, if not I guess it onto the solenoid from the manual...

ps...

It it odd to have an 89 motor in a 91 boat and being original factory?? I need to check the outdrive serial, it was replaced about 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[Ron-O]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Work on the boat for a little while tonight. Trim down and trailer work fine. The up does not. I was checking the trim limit module. I noticed a bare wire. Which would be an open circuit, correct? I'm going to try to fix the wire tomorrow or Sunday. Does the trim limit work on the down trim also or only up??? Looks like a bear to get to.

Ron

 

[wire2]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

A bare wire isn't an open circuit, unless it's cut also. It can be a short if it's carrying 12 volts and it contacts ground. If you can remove one end, put a bit of shrink tube on it.
A 2 wire limit can control only 1 direction, otherwise you couldn't drive it the other way.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

I noticed a bare wire.

Where exactly did you "notice a bare wire"???

If it's on the trim limit switch, yes that could be your problem. The trim limit does not work on down. It only works on the up circuit. Once the drive gets so far up it opens the circuit. That is why you have to use the trailer button. It bypasses the trim limit switch.
Read that manual a little more. There is lots of info in it on the trim system.

 

[Ron-O]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

I noticed a bare wire about 3 inches up from the trim limit switch. (looked split and corroded) It was getting dark so I had to give up for tonight.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Well, the wire was probably chaffed or corroded thru....... Or both.
Get a jumper wire and hook on the two ends and see if it works.
You might try (and I hate to even suggest this) splicing the wire, may need a new section, then waterproof the best you can untill it goes bad again, but you are going to need a new switch. This happens to them all the time.

 

[ktmrider]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

I had the same problem but reversed.

Have you tried topping off the trim fluid? It fixed my issue.

 

[Ron-O]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Haven't tried adding more fluid. Doesn't hurt to try though. If I need a new switch I may wait until the bellows need replaced to do everything at once.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Haven't tried adding more fluid. Doesn't hurt to try though.

If it was a fluid level problem, it wouldn't work using the tilt button. Being low on fluid doesn't keep the motor from running.

 

[Dakota47]

Re: Trim goes down but not up.

Mine did the same thing. i replaced the shifter and all is good. (worn out switch in the shifter handle)