merc trim

Trim goes down but not up. Trailer tab goes up but not down. Duh! Please advise, can't understand it.

Re: merc trim

michael dale said:

Trim goes down but not up. Trailer tab goes up but not down. Duh! Please advise, can't understand it.

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Welcome to iBoats!

Not sure what type of boat you have. Our old 87 run-about basically had the 2 directions = trim down and trailer up. You just needed to feel and hear for the right trim level when going up or down.

Hope this helped a little!

Re: merc trim

michael dale said:

Trim goes down but not up. Trailer tab goes up but not down. Duh! Please advise, can't understand it.

Click to expand...

IF it's a Mercruiser (just reread the title guess it is), it's pretty easy, trailer only goes up, not supposed to go down, and the trim up is not working because of a open circuit in the trim limit switch. Please advise what year, motor and outdrive. With info can get into specifics of diagnosis.

Re: merc trim

stonyloam said:

IF it's a Mercruiser (just reread the title guess it is), it's pretty easy, trailer only goes up, not supposed to go down, and the trim up is not working because of a open circuit in the trim limit switch. Please advise what year, motor and outdrive. With info can get into specifics of diagnosis.

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I was thinking about the trim limit switch as well. Might be that is "thinks" it is trimmed up when it's not. Trailer will go up as long as you keep pressing it up.

Re: merc trim

Wait for him to tell us what drive he has, all the guessing in the world isn't going to do anything but confuse things when he finally does tell us what he's working on.

Re: merc trim

Hes looking at a thread titled Alpha 1 trim, so I'm going for broke.

Re: merc trim

You wouldn't believe the number of times people have tried to use the Merc instructions to fix a Volvo mechanical lift system, so what makes you think he doesn't have an OMC stringer?

PS, you need to resize your picture to 640 max width.

Re: merc trim

I'm bored and I checked his public profile and he was looking at a post titled "Alpha One Trim" . Plus the title says "merc trim". If I'm wrong I'fix it...

Re: merc trim

Alpheus said:

Hes looking at a thread titled Alpha 1 trim, so I'm going for broke.

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I would think since he can make it work by using different switches that this test will pass. I am in the same boat, well different boat but same situation, so will be following this thread.

Re: merc trim

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Re: merc trim

The thread title is "merc trim", and he has a up,down and trailer switch. So I think we are on the right track with the limit switch. Should be able to figure it out when he gets back with drive and year.

Re: merc trim

i think OP got confused with all the assumptions and went to a different forum

Re: merc trim

stonyloam said:

IF it's a Mercruiser (just reread the title guess it is), it's pretty easy, trailer only goes up, not supposed to go down, and the trim up is not working because of a open circuit in the trim limit switch. Please advise what year, motor and outdrive. With info can get into specifics of diagnosis.

Click to expand...

1997 Maxum , 17" with MerCruiser outdrive. Four cylinder engine. I just got the boat so I know nothing. Can you educate me as to what a trim limit switch is, where it's located and can a weekend mechanic replace it?
Thanks so much for your help.
Michael

Re: merc trim

You have an Alpha I Gen II outdrive. Here is a link to the OEM manual for that drive http://www.4shared.com/document/dPQUcyn_/Service_Manual_14.html
Go to the troubleshooting section, there is detailed instructions and wiring diagrams for your particular system.
Disregard earlier posts. Some are close, but no cigar.

The trim limit switch does nothing more than keeping you from triming the drive up to far. Not to be confused with tilting it all the way up for trailering.
Triming just keeps you from trimming the drive too high for the rpm. Really not needed, when you get to that height of of trim, the boat slows down and the rpm goes up. But hey, it sells limit switches.

Re: merc trim

First,Don knows what he is talking about. Second it is pretty easy to check out. The good thing is that your down trim and trailer work, so that means that your pump and the two (up and down) solenoids are OK. That leaves the switch on the controller and the trim limit switch. Try this: Run the outdrive all the way down and try the up trim switch. If it works it means that you had it up too far when you first tried it (you were beyond the trim limit). If it does not work go to the back of the boat and locate the trim limit switch wires (look at post #10), they are black wires going connector with a purple/white and two blue/white wires. Unplug the black wires and jumper between the two connectors. See if the up trim works. If it does, the problem is your trim limit switch. At that point you can just leave the jumper in and use it that way (with no limit), or if feeling adventurous disassemble the switch and see if it just needs to be cleaned, or get it fixed, a major PITA, and probably very expensive to have it done.