Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

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lostriver

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I have a deck boat with a Mercruiser 240 I/O and an alpha outdrive. The drive serial # is OL788504, the transom serial # is OL884895. This outdrive will trim up in any position but to trim the unit down I have to turn the steering wheel until it is in the "sweet spot". I think I may have damage something when I floated into an under water tree. Any ideas on how to fix this??
 
Don S

Don S

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

I think I may have damage something when I floated into an under water tree. Any ideas on how to fix this??
Click to expand...

Yeah, get it out of the water and inspect for damage. If you don't know what to look for, find a qualified dealer to look at it. Something is broken.
 
L

lostriver

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

I have it out of the water and I do not see any damage. I ran it a couple months last year after it started "acting up" but I would like to fix it this year before I start boating again.
 
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kblaksley

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

As a test you could try bypassing the limit switch.
 
AZSenza

AZSenza

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

If you trust your "Feel" of the trim like i do, you can make a jumper wire. It will have 2 male bullet ends and should be about 8" long. It goes on the wires comming out of the pump. With that bypassed you should always have control of the trim. I know on mine I know WAY before the limit is reached when on plane.
 
Don S

Don S

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

The trim limit switch has nothing to do with the operation of the drive going down. There actually isn't anything electrical on the outside of the boat that affect the down position at all.
 
JustJason

JustJason

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

have a look in the back of the boat. Is all your wiring clean, structured and tied off? Or is it a rats nest of crap back there. It's possible the steering arm is hitting something if your wiring is real bad.
 
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lostriver

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Re: Alpha outdrive does not want to trim down unless in a particular position

I think I have found my problem. The outdrive has a trim limit switch on each side. The wires coming out of the port trim limit switch took a sharp bend and were then jambed up against some hose. I rotated the clamp holding the wires to the port limit switch and everything seems to be working just fine again. I considered rewiring the switch but with the little room available that does not look like an easy job. I think I am going to try to run it and see what happens.

If I get stuck and the motor won't go down is there a way to bypass the switch??
 
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