My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

[abqrb2000]

I have a 1990 Four Winn with the I/O 4.3 Chevy v6 and OMC drive. When my key is on the trim guage pegs all the way up and never moves when I trim up or down. The ground seems good. I have tried to trace the single wire that goes back.
Anyone know where it hooks up to the OMC and how does it work?

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Should the wire be sending a 12v signal to the gauge?

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Hey Ab,
The trim sensor on the OMC is on the starboard side of the drive. It has 2 5/16 screws that attach the puck to what I believe is called the gimbal assembly. The puck has a leg on it that moves up and down as the trim goes in and out. If the trim gauge pegs to the upper limit I'd check to see of the leg is broken. It's pretty easy to get to.

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Is this inside or outside?

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Ok, I found the lever. It has nothing attached to it so I gotta figure that out.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

outside on the starboard side of the drive near the top.Its a round black plastic disk looking thing.
It does not send 12 volts thru it,it works on ohm readings.
There is also a 2 wire plug in for it behind the engine in the wiring harness that likes to corrode.

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

The leg is spring loaded and attached to the puck. There should be 2 wires that come off the puck and go the trim gauge.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Ok, I found the lever. It has nothing attached to it so I gotta figure that out.

You wont see the wires,they go thru the transom plate. If you take the 2 screws out you will see where the wires are going in..
The drive pushes the lever up and down..

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I definitely found the spring loaded lever. I gotta figure out what is supposed to attached to it.
You guys are awesome!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

With the key turned on move the lever up and down and have someone watch the trim gauge.Most of the time its a bad sender or bad connection.
Those senders are a real pain to replace..

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

What connects to the spring loaded lever? I see the 1/4" shaft that something would attach to. I can not find the other point that the lever would attach too?

 

[Coors]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

The lever just rubs against the drive.

 

[4Winns2]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I have a 1990 Four Winn with the I/O 4.3 Chevy v6 and OMC drive. When my key is on the trim guage pegs all the way up and never moves when I trim up or down. The ground seems good. I have tried to trace the single wire that goes back.
Anyone know where it hooks up to the OMC and how does it work?

I have a 90' Four Winns (Freedom 195 cuddy) with a 4.3 OMC as well. The trim gauge has never worked since I bought two years ago. In fact, I've rarely seen a trim gauge work in my 40+ years of boating.

I usually feel the ride and watch the rooster behind the boat for a good trim. A gauge for this does not accurately match the feel of the boat ride. Just my opinion. I am watching this thread with interest though. Maybe I'll take a look see for the "puck" on the outdrive while getting my boat ready next week and learn something new.

How has your OMC outdrive treated you so far?

 

[abqrb2000]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I have a 90' Four Winns (Freedom 195 cuddy) with a 4.3 OMC as well. The trim gauge has never worked since I bought two years ago. In fact, I've rarely seen a trim gauge work in my 40+ years of boating.

I usually feel the ride and watch the rooster behind the boat for a good trim. A gauge for this does not accurately match the feel of the boat ride. Just my opinion. I am watching this thread with interest though. Maybe I'll take a look see for the "puck" on the outdrive while getting my boat ready next week and learn something new.

How has your OMC outdrive treated you so far?

I have the same exact boat! Bought it used 3 years ago. It has done good so far. I need to do some preventive maintenance I'm sure. I should get a manual or something.

They said the Lever rubs against the drive? I see no possible way for this to happen or something is missing??

 

[Coors]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Have someone operate the button while you watch; you will see it rubbing. Or move it with your finger and have someone watch the gauge. If it is bad, forget about it;Unless you have tons of room behind your engine to get to the clip that holds the grommet. It is not important, when you raise the drive too high, the prop will cavitate, just lower it some (that is straight out of the OMC manual).

 

[4Winns2]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I have the same exact boat! Bought it used 3 years ago. It has done good so far. I need to do some preventive maintenance I'm sure. I should get a manual or something.

They said the Lever rubs against the drive? I see no possible way for this to happen or something is missing??

(Sorry to all in advance for the small thread hijack here.) Small world it is finding another 90' Freedom 195 out there. Actually, I've seen two, both in very good shape like mine, on the lake (Skaneateles- -one of Finger Lakes west of Syracuse) where we keep our boat. Both of these Freedom 195's were maroon in color like mine too. If yours is also that color that would further my theory that it was the only color for that model in that year. I grabbed the original 1990 brochure (still available but don't have the link handy) from the Four Winns corporate site and boat pics within are all maroon. I'd shoot you over some pics for comparision if I had your e-mail address.

In regards to the trim gauge. As I said earlier, mine has never worked. I thought about fixing it but I wouldn't use it anyways since I like to trim by feel and rooster tail given the amount of weight on the boat at that moment. Best of luck on this and let us know how you make out on the repair. I'd be certainly interested if it's a quick fix or not and maybe I'll mess with mine and have a complete dash of working gauges.

Oh, if you're interested in getting a manual. I think I just Googled boat manuals, or something like that, and I found mine for just over $20. Answers a lot of questions. It's usually the first thing I buy when I get another car or boat or whatever toy. I'm pretty handy with a wrench but the manual lets me know what kind of job I'm getting into, thus increasing my patience to do it, before I do it.

 

[Apocalypso]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I have a 1996 Four Winns Horizon with the 4.3GL and VP SX drive. The trim gauge stopped working last season and the I found the white wire (possible ground) had broken about 1/4" from the sending unit. A new sending unit is $75, so I ran last year without it. Over winter, I managed to solder new wires to the sending unit and then reinstalled it in the spring. When I removed the unit, I simply cut the wires to it with ample room to reattach once I repaired the unit. Just a word of advice, the wire used fro this unit is very resistant to solder. I had to use a little acid flux to allow me to tin the leads on the boat.

It works, but the adjustement on it is very, very touchy. It worked fine prior to this problem. I may just buy a new one next year.
HTH, Jim

 

[drv7144]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

I have experienced the same thing as what is said below. Does anyone know how hard it is to replace? It looks easy to to remove the sending unit, however is it hard to romove the harness to the unit? Is there any good diagrams of this part? Can I replace only the harness?

I have a 1996 Four Winns Horizon with the 4.3GL and VP SX drive. The trim gauge stopped working last season and the I found the white wire (possible ground) had broken about 1/4" from the sending unit. A new sending unit is $75, so I ran last year without it. Over winter, I managed to solder new wires to the sending unit and then reinstalled it in the spring. When I removed the unit, I simply cut the wires to it with ample room to reattach once I repaired the unit. Just a word of advice, the wire used fro this unit is very resistant to solder. I had to use a little acid flux to allow me to tin the leads on the boat.

It works, but the adjustement on it is very, very touchy. It worked fine prior to this problem. I may just buy a new one next year.
HTH, Jim

 

[bruceb58]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

Instead of replying to a 2 year old thread, you should start a new thread with your problem.

The harness can be a problem depending how easy it is to access the transom assembly from inside your baot. There is a clip you need to remove from the inside. Go up to the top of this forum and go to the Adult's only section and download a manual. They describe it there.

 

[Lodgepole]

Re: My trim guage is not working? OMC 4.3

To test your trim gauge, hook + & - to 12 V . gauge should go full up. Jump wire - to S (sender) and gauge should go dn. I have lost my notes on how to test trim sender but as I remember, ohm meter across 2 wires should read 0 in up position and 80 in dn position. I may have it backwards. I got an exact match OEM trim gauge from MARINEENGINE.com. I think you can get a sender at MarinePartsExpress.com.