Michel Paquette
Cadet
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2016
- Messages
- 9
Hi Everyone
I purchased a 1975 StarCraft Chieftain in the spring and I need to get some clarification about how the trim/tilt functions and the parts associated with it.
Just a note before I start. The engine and stern drive are from a Glastron of about the same year. The motor is the same but the stern drive has the gimbal switch and sensor while the original, (which the previous owner gave me along with the boat) only has 2 wires going into the gimbal housing.
Since I was not able to find a wiring diagram for my boat, (no longer available according to a StarCraft dealer I called), I made my own by opening what I needed to follow all of the wires path. So here is what I have on my boat in the way of trim/tilt items:
Based on the wiring diagram I made up, this is what I discovered:
The white (sort of) connected to the side solenoid is coming from the "tilt down" connection of my tilt switch (lower switch). the wire at the switch is actuary green with white stripe
The light blue on the front solenoid is coming from the "tilt up" connection, passing by a splice connection to what I have deduced to be the trim limit switch and a switch on the gear shift support plate, which I found out to be the "reverse stop" switch.
So all this is clear enough. The side solenoid is to activate the pump to tilt down and the front solenoid is for tilt up, which gets cut off when I go in reverse.
The part that I am having problems with is the 2 purple wires. At the dash end, one is connected to the gauge and the other is connected to the "tilt up" connection. At the back, one is connected to the cylinder, which I found to be the "Trim Sender Assembly Without Gimbal Trim Sender", and the other is connected to the wire going to the trim limit switch.
From what I can understand, The blue wire path is bypassing the limit switch to allow for tilting the stern drive all the way up. Now the purple wire should be coming from the "trim" switch to prevent from tilting too far up when underway. In my case, the purple wire being connected at the same place as the blue wire is completely useless. Also since my wires gong to the gimbal switch is cut anyway, at the moment there is nothing worth changing.
As for the wire going from the trim sender to the gauge, should be correct except that my trim gage is not working. Either my wires have somehow got crossed or ether my gage of my sending unit is not working.
I think up to now I understand how the trim, tilt and gauge should be working. If I have something wrong I would appreciate if someone would enlighten me.
I attempted to check if the wires got crossed, by disconnecting the purple wire at the gage and both purple wire at the back. Theoretically, by doing this, the wire from the gauge to the sending unit should read zero ohms and the other shown read infinite resistance. When I checked with my ohmmeter to verify which of the 2 purple was coming from the gauge, I ran into an unexpected result. Both purple wires shows a near zero resistance. Where could I have gone wrong? Could ther be a short between the 2 purple wires or did I miss something else? Unless someone has a suggestion, I am considering taking off my dash again and rechecking all the wires. Or maybe start by checking from the gauge to the dash plug then the dash plug to the back.
When I started writing this post I had a lot of question, but at each step I was writing, I went back to my diagram and my boat and actually sorted out most of the question I had. This post now is more of a summery of what I discovered and a hope that others can tell me that I am right (or wrong).
Michel Paquette
I purchased a 1975 StarCraft Chieftain in the spring and I need to get some clarification about how the trim/tilt functions and the parts associated with it.
Just a note before I start. The engine and stern drive are from a Glastron of about the same year. The motor is the same but the stern drive has the gimbal switch and sensor while the original, (which the previous owner gave me along with the boat) only has 2 wires going into the gimbal housing.
Since I was not able to find a wiring diagram for my boat, (no longer available according to a StarCraft dealer I called), I made my own by opening what I needed to follow all of the wires path. So here is what I have on my boat in the way of trim/tilt items:
Based on the wiring diagram I made up, this is what I discovered:
The white (sort of) connected to the side solenoid is coming from the "tilt down" connection of my tilt switch (lower switch). the wire at the switch is actuary green with white stripe
The light blue on the front solenoid is coming from the "tilt up" connection, passing by a splice connection to what I have deduced to be the trim limit switch and a switch on the gear shift support plate, which I found out to be the "reverse stop" switch.
So all this is clear enough. The side solenoid is to activate the pump to tilt down and the front solenoid is for tilt up, which gets cut off when I go in reverse.
The part that I am having problems with is the 2 purple wires. At the dash end, one is connected to the gauge and the other is connected to the "tilt up" connection. At the back, one is connected to the cylinder, which I found to be the "Trim Sender Assembly Without Gimbal Trim Sender", and the other is connected to the wire going to the trim limit switch.
From what I can understand, The blue wire path is bypassing the limit switch to allow for tilting the stern drive all the way up. Now the purple wire should be coming from the "trim" switch to prevent from tilting too far up when underway. In my case, the purple wire being connected at the same place as the blue wire is completely useless. Also since my wires gong to the gimbal switch is cut anyway, at the moment there is nothing worth changing.
As for the wire going from the trim sender to the gauge, should be correct except that my trim gage is not working. Either my wires have somehow got crossed or ether my gage of my sending unit is not working.
I think up to now I understand how the trim, tilt and gauge should be working. If I have something wrong I would appreciate if someone would enlighten me.
I attempted to check if the wires got crossed, by disconnecting the purple wire at the gage and both purple wire at the back. Theoretically, by doing this, the wire from the gauge to the sending unit should read zero ohms and the other shown read infinite resistance. When I checked with my ohmmeter to verify which of the 2 purple was coming from the gauge, I ran into an unexpected result. Both purple wires shows a near zero resistance. Where could I have gone wrong? Could ther be a short between the 2 purple wires or did I miss something else? Unless someone has a suggestion, I am considering taking off my dash again and rechecking all the wires. Or maybe start by checking from the gauge to the dash plug then the dash plug to the back.
When I started writing this post I had a lot of question, but at each step I was writing, I went back to my diagram and my boat and actually sorted out most of the question I had. This post now is more of a summery of what I discovered and a hope that others can tell me that I am right (or wrong).
Michel Paquette
