Tilt issues

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
If this is in the wrong area I apologize, please move to the correct one. I can raise my drive but I can't lower it (it will lower itself overnight due to gravity (leakby), however I don't want to launch my boat and have to wait hours for the drive to lower enough to run. It could possibly be operator error as well as I have not used this boat in the 3 years I've had it. The lower right switch in the picture will raise the drive all the way when "out" is pressed. Nothing happens when "in" is pressed. Also the button next to it confuses me a bit, it doesn't do anything at all. Then there is the ACC button, does this have to be on for the tilt to work? Thanks in advance!
 

Attachments

  • photo216571.JPG
    photo216571.JPG
    90.1 KB · Views: 0

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,582
If this is in the wrong area I apologize, please move to the correct one. I can raise my drive but I can't lower it (it will lower itself overnight due to gravity (leakby), however I don't want to launch my boat and have to wait hours for the drive to lower enough to run. It could possibly be operator error as well as I have not used this boat in the 3 years I've had it. The lower right switch in the picture will raise the drive all the way when "out" is pressed. Nothing happens when "in" is pressed. Also the button next to it confuses me a bit, it doesn't do anything at all. Then there is the ACC button, does this have to be on for the tilt to work? Thanks in advance!

The far right button should lower (in) the drive all the way down and raise (out) the drive out part way. To bring the drive all the out you would use the up/out switch.

The OUT should not raise the drive all the way, so someone may have bypassed the limit switch. Back to your current issue, appears either your switch on the IN side is not making contact, there is a break in the circuit from the switch to the relay, or your relay has gone bad. Here is a link to the trim manual
http://web.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/boat/pdf/manual/Chapter Eighteen.PDF
 

Starcraft5834

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
1,677
As Dodge said, your probably losing contact to that switch on the trim motor.. last summer I came in off the water and my drive would not come up at the dock to leave.. I checked the trim motor connections and found it was loose.. tightened it up and boom, up it came, hell, I just replaced the trim motor the year before with a new unit.....vibrations can wiggle em loose.. check there first and work your way to the switch up front... once u figure that out, to ease pressure on the seals in the trailer position, buy a ratchet strap with "S" hook, connect one to one of the ski rings, run it under the drive and connect to the other ring, tighten it, that will help with trailer "bounce" and extra wear on the ram seals when in the trailer up position. IMHO
 
Last edited:

roffey

Commander
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
2,187
up/out is when you trailer the boat and the in / out are to trim the out drive. The ACC button is the accessory button. Turn it on and it may give power to things like radio and depth sounder or that's how it works on my boat.
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Thanks for the replies, I've had this boat 3 years but have never had it in the water and never got any instructions on how to operate the tilt. It used to go down but doesn't anymore. I'll check the connections and see if I see anything obvious. I do have two switches on my drive, the port side one looks in good shape, on the stbd one the wires are frayed and the insulation is missing. I know splicing is not a good idea since they are exposed to heavy moisture but maybe I'll try it for now and see if that makes a difference. Thanks again everyone!
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
After reading the manual provided by AllDodge (Thanks!), I find out that the stbd switch is for a trim meter I don't have so I'm not going worry about that. Thanks again for all the help.
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Well here it is a year plus later and I am still having an issue. I only just started looking at it again as I want to get the boat in the water for my first time. I did determine that my original post was incorrect. When I press the out button, the drive lifts up, I don't know if it's all the way up but it stops on it's own. Nothing happens when I press the Up/Out button. When I press the In button the pump will run but the drive does not move. I have checked all the wiring at the pump and have not found any loose or corroded connections. Any help will be sincerely appreciated.
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
When I press the In button the pump will run but the drive does not move. I have checked all the wiring at the pump and have not found any loose or corroded connections.

Ayuh,..... Is the pump full of oil,..??

Maybe the drive is just stuck up, have a heavy friend jump on it as yer runnin' the pump, down,....
 

nitedmn

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
78
Ayuh,..... Is the pump full of oil,..??

This is my guess. Not sure what kind of trim pump you have but, if the drive is up, don't fill it all the way until you get the drive all the way down. Add just enough to get the drive to lower then fill it the rest of the way.

When you lower the drive the oil from the rams will be pumped into the reservoir so it needs empty space for that oil to fill up.
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Hmmm, I never checked the oil, it's gonna be fun doing that. The drive will lower by itself if I don't keep it tied up, plus it worked fine going up so I never thought it could be the oil level. I have the single solenoid system (high pressure?). It's a '77. I'll check it today. If that's it I might just get it in the water today or tomorrow. Yay!
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
No Title

UPDATE: I checked the oil it looked ok, had a buddy push the drive down while I held the switch in the "IN" position, it went down slow but it did go down. I cracked the fittings at the rams and got oil when the switch was pushed. It still won't go down on it's own. I removed the line in the photo (with arrow) and the drive went down perfect, hooked it back up and same as before, won't go down. Any help is appreciated. On edit, I did fill the oil back up after I was done with everything.
 

Attachments

  • photo247098.jpg
    photo247098.jpg
    115.5 KB · Views: 0

Alumarine

Captain
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,684
Try putting the throttle lever in forward and see if the drive will go down.
Also try it with the throttle lever in reverse.
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Well I put my boat in the water last week for the first time. I had my daughter push down on the drive while I pushed the switch. Once I got it in the water I put it in reverse and pushed the switch and got the drive all the way down. After we were done and pulled the boat out I figured I'd try it the normal way and guess what...it works again! Don't know what happened but it's working. Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
Once I got it in the water I put it in reverse and pushed the switch and got the drive all the way down.

Ayuh,..... Forward pushes the drive down,....

Reverse pulls the drive up, which is why yer system has the reverse lock in yer picture,....

Tryin' to run the trim in reverse can blow the sides of the cylinders out,...
Been there, done that, years ago,....
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Thanks Bondo, it must've pushed it down when I was in forward then. I don't know what I was thinking, I just tested the reverse lock out a couple weeks ago and it worked. Anyway the drive is raising and lowering when it's told to, yay. The trailer mode even works!
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
Ayuh,.... A couple of things that can cause the trim to stick in the Up position,.....

When ya run the pump to Full Up, 'n ya hear the motor labor,..??
That's crowdin' the valvin',...
Tap the down button a couple of times,...
That unloads the overload on the valvin', so's it don't stay stuck,...

Another thing is a build up of crud in the wiper seals, where the rod comes outa the cylinder,....
Minerals, 'n sealife can cause a bind right there,....

The pump produces nearly twice the pressure up, as down, so it can get stuck, Up,....
 

77GlastronMT

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
100
Learn something new every time I visit this site, Thanks so much, I'll store that tidbit away and make sure I use it.
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
Is the pump motor running when you press IN? (You should hear it)

Chris....
 
Top