Hi all. I was just able to replace my trim limit switch and trim position sending unit with out much trouble and almost without any help. I just wanted to share this with others who may be faced with the same task.
The symptoms of a faulty trim limit switch are the up/out trim button not working while the trailer up works without a problem. The normal replacement procedure requires removal of the out drive and bellows and requires experience and special tools. I found this on another forum and would like to share and expand on that post.
Make sure you are in a spot where you can put the outdrive into the full down position. First isolate the wires at the connections inside the engine compartment. The trim limit and sender wires are paired black wires (resemble an electric light cord ). The trim limit switch connects to a purple and a double blue (these may have white stripes - mine did not) and the trim position sender usually connects to a black and a brown.
Turn outdrive to port and disconnect trim positon sender (TPS) and tape up to top of housing. Now put outdrive all the way down and to the starboard. You can now reach the bracket that holds the wires in place by running a socket extension between the bell housing and the gimbal ring, but you can't get a straight angle at the bolt. I used a 1/4 inch extension that I purchased at Lowes, part #10192, a Kobalt 6" wobble extension. With this I did not have to machine or grind down my 7/16 socket or extension. If you have a 1/4" universal, you could use it but you may have to grind (shorten) your socket to get it to fit. You could also machine a standard extension to make it thin enough that you could have a straight shot at the bolt and bracket (although-this approach might make it easier at the end). Remove the bolt and bracket and now you can pull the wires through ( that is after you attach string to the wires to fish the new ones)
I cut the bullet connections off the old wires before I pulled them through. Also it is helpful to label the strings so you know which wire is which. For the fishing strings I used heavy Weed wacker trimmer string and attached with electrical tape- it worked great. They were easy to pull through. The new wires were also easy to pull through one at a time. On the TPS, which has a male and female bullet connector, I bent the male connector back before taping it to the fishing wire. This decreased the diameter and it was easy to pull through. Leave enough wire so you can position the bracket and the gromet halves for replacement. I used a small amount of electrical tape to hold the wires together which helped hold the gromet halves together and then pulled the wires as far in as possible which set the gromets into the hole in the hull. With some patience, fiddling and luck I was able to get the bolt back through the bracket and threaded. I then tightened it down, installed and calibrated the units per the directions and that was it. Calibrating was the only time I needed any help.
Cost: $92 for the trim limit and trim sending 9 you have to purchase as a pair and $5.50 for the wobble extension. It took less than three hrs. and much of that was spent climbing in and out of the boat.
Hope this helps
The symptoms of a faulty trim limit switch are the up/out trim button not working while the trailer up works without a problem. The normal replacement procedure requires removal of the out drive and bellows and requires experience and special tools. I found this on another forum and would like to share and expand on that post.
Make sure you are in a spot where you can put the outdrive into the full down position. First isolate the wires at the connections inside the engine compartment. The trim limit and sender wires are paired black wires (resemble an electric light cord ). The trim limit switch connects to a purple and a double blue (these may have white stripes - mine did not) and the trim position sender usually connects to a black and a brown.
Turn outdrive to port and disconnect trim positon sender (TPS) and tape up to top of housing. Now put outdrive all the way down and to the starboard. You can now reach the bracket that holds the wires in place by running a socket extension between the bell housing and the gimbal ring, but you can't get a straight angle at the bolt. I used a 1/4 inch extension that I purchased at Lowes, part #10192, a Kobalt 6" wobble extension. With this I did not have to machine or grind down my 7/16 socket or extension. If you have a 1/4" universal, you could use it but you may have to grind (shorten) your socket to get it to fit. You could also machine a standard extension to make it thin enough that you could have a straight shot at the bolt and bracket (although-this approach might make it easier at the end). Remove the bolt and bracket and now you can pull the wires through ( that is after you attach string to the wires to fish the new ones)
I cut the bullet connections off the old wires before I pulled them through. Also it is helpful to label the strings so you know which wire is which. For the fishing strings I used heavy Weed wacker trimmer string and attached with electrical tape- it worked great. They were easy to pull through. The new wires were also easy to pull through one at a time. On the TPS, which has a male and female bullet connector, I bent the male connector back before taping it to the fishing wire. This decreased the diameter and it was easy to pull through. Leave enough wire so you can position the bracket and the gromet halves for replacement. I used a small amount of electrical tape to hold the wires together which helped hold the gromet halves together and then pulled the wires as far in as possible which set the gromets into the hole in the hull. With some patience, fiddling and luck I was able to get the bolt back through the bracket and threaded. I then tightened it down, installed and calibrated the units per the directions and that was it. Calibrating was the only time I needed any help.
Cost: $92 for the trim limit and trim sending 9 you have to purchase as a pair and $5.50 for the wobble extension. It took less than three hrs. and much of that was spent climbing in and out of the boat.
Hope this helps
