1999 Johnson 70hp trims down but won't tilt up...I think I fried it, need help

timotheius

Recruit
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Messages
2
So I was working on my motor yesterday and managed to screw things up again. I had a charger hooked up to my battery and was charging it up. Without thinking, i decided to tilt the motor up. I pushed the "up" switch on the control to tilt the motor up, while the charger was still hooked up to the battery. Instantly the electric tilt stopped working. I realized what I did and immediately disconnected the charger. The motor will now trim down just fine, but won't tilt up. Electric trim works, electric tilt is now broke. Both were working perfectly fine earlier yesterday. I immediately thought it was a blown fuse, but could only find one fuse on the system and it was fine. Also, that fuse would disable both tilt and trim. Any help or ideas on what I may have done? Is there another fuse I don't know about? Or is the damage far worse? Motor is a 1999 Johnson 70hp 2 stroke. Any help would be much appreciated.
 

mekkamaz

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
180
Re: 1999 Johnson 70hp trims down but won't tilt up...I think I fried it, need help

Chances are that you first fry charger than the t/t.....I?ve done that a lot and all it happens is that charger needle goes bananas for the high current drawn.....I think you have a relay issue. There is a pair of relays for the t/t, one for down and one for up..same t/t motor. check the relays. Maybe your battery was so low, and when you try to tilt it, relay went south...switch relays, and you will see the issue moves, now only up and no down, so if this happens change damage relay with a new one, you can get one in any autoparts store...post any finding if the issue is not solved.
 

timotheius

Recruit
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Messages
2
Re: 1999 Johnson 70hp trims down but won't tilt up...I think I fried it, need help

Problem solved! It is a faulty/perhaps fried Tilt Limit switch. This makes sense because the motor would trim down but not tilt up. This switch is not on all motors, but is on OMC Fastrack tilt/trim systems. I must have damaged it during the battery charger snafu.

First I tried checking the relays as suggested. They both worked fine. Then I bought a digital multimeter. Never used one before. My SELOC shop manual had pretty good instructions on how to use it to isolate the problem. I used the meter on the relay bracket and determined that it was getting power....but the blue/white wires (tilt) were not. I next used the meter to check the two tilt/trim switches. They both worked fine. The manual said to next check the Tilt Limit switch. It is checked by simply bypassing it with the quick-disconnects on the blue/white wires. I unplugged the tilt limit switch wires and plugged in the main line....and it worked!!! Everything is working fine now...less the tilt limit switch.
 

mekkamaz

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
180
Re: 1999 Johnson 70hp trims down but won't tilt up...I think I fried it, need help

Glad to hear you?ve solved your problem!

Enjoy!
 

boobie

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Messages
20,826
Re: 1999 Johnson 70hp trims down but won't tilt up...I think I fried it, need help

I just read this post and was going to suggest the tilt limit switch, but you beat me to it. Good Work !!
 
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