[TommyRox]

I have a 1997 Mercury 40 2 stroke SN OE276775 that all of a sudden started blowing the 20 amp fuse on the top of the motor. This fuse controls the started and trim as far as I can tell. I can be cruising fine and using my trim and all of a sudden no more trim. The fuse only blows when I am trimming so I am wondering if it could be the relays going bad. Any suggestions or assistance would greatly be appreciated. :$

[WillyBWright]

Not the relays. My first guess would be the point where there is the most wear on the wires. I'll bet there's a pinched wire or worn insulation in the remote control lever. It could also be just inside the control box, assuming it's a surface mount. They stuff a lot of wires into a little space and it's not at all unusual to get a wire rubbing on the mechanism in there, or pinched. In fact it's real hard not to.

[TommyRox]

Thanks I will take a look there and see what I can find.

[TommyRox]

I narrowed the diag to the switch on the Mercury QuickSilver 3000 Classic remote trim switch and would like to find a replacement switch but have not found a source yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[WillyBWright]

If it's a Mercury control, only a Mercury/MerCruiser dealer can get them. Many have them in stock.

[TommyRox]

How hard is it to get to the switch? I am thiniking I might start first by trying to clean the switch with some contact cleaner before spening the money on a new one.

Quick Silver 3000 Classic remote

[TommyRox]

UPDATE: FIXED !!!

My friend came over yesterday and was DETERMINED tp find this short. I had always suspected it was trim-related but could not prove until now. We followed the "up" wired last and low and behold on the bottom of the engine compartment there was paint missing - GREAT sign. On that bald spot was the "trim up" wire and when we pulled it up and turned it arounf the insulatation had been worn off and bare wires exposed. Once the paint had been rubbed off the wire started making contact with the chassis - BAM blowing fuses.

The scarey thing is it might have blown up since you could actually see the spark divots in the metal so there was definately some sparks flying under there under the right conditions as well as all kinds of gas fumes stuck under there when running.

Thanks for all the support now onto the next issue...

[DHPMARINE]

Glad you found/fixed it.

Just an aside,but your serial number is a Force,not a Merc.

DHP

[TommyRox]

Thanks - I get confused but so far all parts have been Mercury from the Mercury dealer. I guess technically it's a Tracker/Mercury/Force motor - VERY confusing for this newbie

8)

Originally Posted by DHPMARINE

Glad you found/fixed it.

Just an aside,but your serial number is a Force,not a Merc.

DHP

[DHPMARINE]

Not a problem at all.And Mercury owned Force until the end.And 1997 was pretty much the same as a Merc.

Just something I happened to notice.

DHP

[TommyRox]

Thanks again DHP for the assistance