89 Johnson 70 Tilt and Trim troubleshooting

[Lord Tywin]

I have started having issues raising the engine via tilt. It goes down fine, but doesnt want to come back up. I checked the switch and have continuity to the harness up and down. I then found the relays, pulled them out. They were gunked up on the plugs so I cleaned them and it started working. I then found a couple replacements and got them put in. It worked a little then stopped again. All I can hear is the relay click when I push up on the switch. (OMC switch on the throttle handle).

My gut says the next thing to look at is the TnT motor, possibly it needs rebuilding. Seem like a good next step?
Any suggestions?

 

[jakedaawg]

Swap relays. Does it now go up?

 

[Lord Tywin]

Will give that a shot when I get home today. I figure since it always works going down, even with new relays and swapped "old" relays it probably isnt them. Do the male prongs on these usually have gunk on them? I'm thinking that the female receivers may have gunk in them too which may be preventing a good connection. Would that possibly cause this type of behavior?

 

[Lord Tywin]

So I pulled the relays and sure enough they were completely gunked up again. I cleaned them and tried both relays in both positions and it only goes down. I no longer hear the relay click when I hit the Up switch though, so I'm heading back to continuity. I tried to post a a pic of the brand new relays after about 2 weeks plugged in, but it wouldnt let me. I really dont believe they are supposed to look like they do. A Q-tip and some alcohol cleaned them up but still no up tilt.

 

[jakedaawg]

They are always gunked up. Thats an anti corrosion thing they put on at the factory. It is not the issue. If you swapped relays, Top one to bottom one then its in the switch or the wiring, or the ground.

 

[Lord Tywin]

Update: I re-checked continuity from the switch and it failed, so I installed a new switch and it worked fine. Once. It raised the motor all the way up, then lowered it. Now it will not go up again.

 

[Lord Tywin]

Now about every other day it works. I'm thinking maybe there's a loose wire/ground or maybe the motor? Any ideas?

 

[Roberthill]

JMT Whatever stops tilt and trim motor on the up stroke may be sticking , you could try spraying wd40 around the sending unit .

 

[Lord Tywin]

That's a great thought. Any pointers on where I can find the sending unit? The boat is in the water and I wont be taking it out before end of summer, so looking around it is difficult but doable. Thanks!

 

[flyingscott]

Sending unit has nothing to do with the T/N/T operation on that motor. Check the connections for the motor and switches and all the grounds. Does that motor have the 2 switches?

 

[Lord Tywin]

The motor has 1 thumbswitch that I have bypassed and installed a new momentary toggle switch. After that I know it has 2 relays but I dont know if it has any other switches. This is my first boat and I've only had it about 3 months. I'm pretty mechanical but just dont know my way around these yet. I will hang out off the end of the boat this weekend and see if I can find the motor and start tracing/tightening wires. Thanks for the input, keep it coming! This is incredibly helpful while I learn.
This weekend I picked up a small branch on the motor and had to stop and pull my tubers in to pull the branch off as I could not tilt the motor up. I'm just glad they were back there to help me out!