Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

[iammarcuse]

I just bought a used 1998 boat at auction with Merc I/O and Alpha drive. When I went to lower the trim nothing happened. Not even clicking of solonoid. The weird thing is it is getting power. 20 amp fuse good, 110 amp fuse good. 12 volts to red. If I jump the red to solonoid I getting nothing. If I jump to motor I get nothing.
If it was the motor I would think the solonoid would click. If it was the solonoid then the motor should run when I jump red to grn/wht or blu/wht. Everything ohms out. I am at a complete loss. Am I missing something here?

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

Head up to the adults only sticky at the top of this forum and locate the Merc service manuals, then download manual #14 There is a troubleshooting chart and wiring diagram that will help you quickly locate the problem.

 

[iammarcuse]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

Thanks Don but that's where I'm stumped. I went thru the steps. I've got continuity where I should, power where I should. But when I hit the trim switch or jump the wires I get nothing anywhere.
Would a bad ground possibly give continuity or voltage on a multimeter but not enough to make anything happen?

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

Yes, a bad ground or even a bad power connection would do that. Check them all.

 

[picklenjim]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

I just bought a used 1998 boat at auction with Merc I/O and Alpha drive. When I went to lower the trim nothing happened. Not even clicking of solonoid. The weird thing is it is getting power. 20 amp fuse good, 110 amp fuse good. 12 volts to red. If I jump the red to solonoid I getting nothing. If I jump to motor I get nothing.
If it was the motor I would think the solonoid would click. If it was the solonoid then the motor should run when I jump red to grn/wht or blu/wht. Everything ohms out. I am at a complete loss. Am I missing something here?

To make the motor run (testing) you must jump large red to large green or blue.Not the grn/wht or blu/wht.If you do jump the large hot red to the grn/wht or blu/wht it should at least make the solenoids click. The striped wires activate the solenoids from the helm switch which in turn makes contact inside the solenoid between the large red and large green or large red and large blue.Wires coming out of motor are Black(ground), Blue(up pos), green(down pos).Check voltage at the grn/wht and blu/wht as someone operates the trim switch at the helm. If no voltage as the switch is operated you may not have 12v at the helm.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

Everything ohms out.

Ayuh,... That's Fine & Dandy...

Now follow the Power(12v,+)....
Ohms only tells you the wires are connected...
It's the Power Circuit that makes things Happen...

 

[iammarcuse]

Re: Trim; No clicking, no nothing...at a loss.

Problem solved. I had one of the ground leads from the battery off. Duh. Thanks to all for your suggestions and help.