Tilt/Trim on OMC Cobra 4 cyl. I/O

[flyweed]

Hey guys..I have a 1990 4 Winns 170 Freedom with the OMC Cobra 4 Cyl. in it...just actually got it out of storage after 2 years, as I was out of the country. Anyway...I got the battery on the charger, and checked out all the "systems" everything seems to be in good working condition. BUT, when I put the boat away, the lower unit was fairly "low" with the power trim.....after I reconnected the battery, the power trim won't raise the lower unit. I hear a clicking noise, but that's it. I can take it to the shop to get it checked out, but I'd still like to raise the lower unit up a bit, so there's no chance of hitting the Skeg on the ground.

Was wondering if there is any way to manually rise it up a bit, or I COULD trouble shoot the problem myself, as I am pretty handy at most repair projects. If someone could point me where and what to look at.

Thanks for any help
Dan

 

[bruceb58]

What's the voltage of the battery WHILE you try to operate the trim. If the battery sat for 2 years and was dead, hard to imagine it's still good.

 

[flyweed]

I'll check the voltage when I get home. It's a good marine starting battery and when new was near $150.....but if bad I'll replace

 

[inthedirtagain]

Mine sticks occasionally as well. Several attempts will usually get it to go either up or down, but I too would like to know if there is another way of moving it manually.

 

[flyweed]

Hey Bruce, Ok, just got home from a little vacation, and charged the battery up (until my charger said it was full).....I connected my voltmeter. I just have an analog meter, and it has 10vdc and then jumps to 50 vdc setting. So I flipped it up to the 50vdc setting.....put the contacts on the battery and it read 10...when I had my son push the UP trim button, it would drop to 9.

Did I do it right? Is this NOT enough power to raise or lower? I did try to turn the engine over too, and it wouldn't turn.

Looking like a new battery???

 

[bruceb58]

Battery is bad. With battery voltage of little over 10V means a bad cell.

 

[flyweed]

Dang..that's what I figured. Looks like it's time to go get a new battery.

 

[flyweed]

Ok...went out and bought a new Optimax Bluetop....brought it home, put on charger, just to top off. voltmeter reads 12.67 vdc. Now when I push the up or down trim button, I can hear a "click"....so I figured I'd just hold it and maybe she'd start working. Well...the click stops..now when I push the up or down, there is no sound coming from the "solenoid" or "pump" that is mounted on the very back left wall of the boat. I took a flash light and looked back there, and see there is a good amount of green and white corrosion around the wires. So I assume this part must be shot. can anyone point me to parts for a 1990 four winns 170 freedom, as it looks like I'll be needing some. Thoughts????

 

[jerryjerry05]

Sounds like the connections need to be cleaned FIRST!!!
Don't look for parts till you've done all the trouble shootin!!
You need either a meter or a 12v test light.
Long arms or a helper.
Have someone push the lever or switch as you probe with the test light.
You should have 3 solenoids in a bunch.
1 will have a green wire and the other should be a blue wire.
They are for the trim and tilt.
The other is for the starter.

 

[flyweed]

good call Jerry. I'll test all the connections. Plus I see from the manual there is a resetting circuit breaker on the control box...I will check that too.

 

[Chief123]

If you don't hear the solenoids click anymore, then I would bet you kicked the C/B as the solenoid over heated. Once you get the power fixed and it still does not work I would try the following:
1. Disconnect the power cable going to the tilt motor. Not sure if yours has 3 wires or 2. However, if it has 3 , then it will look just like an electrical cord plug, except the ground will be a flat blade rather than a round one. Just run a jumper from the ground to the - post on battery. Then you take another jumper wire and go from the + post on battery to either the green or blue wire. Tilt motor should run--if not. Take a small hammer and tap on the motor and try again. I have a cobra drive and had the same problem as you. The boat had set for over ten years and one of the things I found not working was the tilt motor. Rather than try and repair I thought I'd check on a new one--well, the 2 wire system for as little as $50.00 that looked the same--but the 3 wire ones were $250. and more.
So I went back to the repair route. I took the motor off and opened it up to find the brushes were stuck and one spring on them was broken. It is really very easy to do. However, if you're not into that most any auto alternator shop can rebuild. I gave Iboats Parts Dept the number of mine and they sent me a rebuild kit for about $25.00. The kit is 2 brushes, 2 springs, a O" ring gasket for each end of motor and 1 small special "O" ring that seals the shaft. Good Luck.

 

[flyweed]

Chief, thanks for that info....I am going to tackle that next. Been on vacation, so just haven't gotten around to it. I just today actually pulled the water impeller/pump. Figured I'd at least check that too..and it was dried up and needing replacing. SO am replacing that today. Found that my "horn" no longer works either....it's the stock signaltone horn..I unbolted it, and checked, and when I push the button, there is 12vdc power to the leads, so now I gotta see if I can take the horn apart, and see if I can get that working too. Just lot's of little things right now.