Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

i am new here, i have a stingray boat made in 03' it is all mercruiser. I was having issues with my trim occasionally not wanting to go down and i would have to hit the switch a couple of times to get it to work. toward the end of last season, it suddenly would not work anymore lowering the trim. Up works fine.

I ran a hot wire to the green and then to the blue wire on the solenoid and could get it to operate that way. i assumed it was the solenoid where the green wire attaches. So i replaced the solenoid and it did not help.

Is there a easy way to test the switch? iS this were i should start?

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

May be nothing more than a poor connection, or a defective trim solenoid.
Here are the troubleshooting charts that will lead you to the problem.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

I've had the metal pick-up in the trim sender break or become coated in grease cause this problem as well. Might not hurt to pull it off, inspect and clean it.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Knot Waiting said:

I've had the metal pick-up in the trim sender break or become coated in grease cause this problem as well. Might not hurt to pull it off, inspect and clean it.

Click to expand...

The trim sender, nor the trim limit switch have anything to do with down. Up, yes, but not down.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

I had a similar problem. It turned out to be a faulty rocker switch. However in the process of elimination, I disconnected, wire brushed and greased all of the connections in the trim circuit which, as it turns out, was probably a good thing as most were showing signs of corrosional degredation.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Little confused, finally testing my voltage at my solenoid.

Trouble shooting guide says

"power trim pump motor runs in the out/up direction, but not in the in/down direction"
In/down does not click

it says---- cAuse is Open In/down circuit in trim control or pump wiring harness.<--- what does this mean?

Then it says check battery voltage at terminal 6 (which is for the in/down) while trimming Out/up.. Why would you test going the opposite direction? Am i missing something?

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Go to the next page in the guide, Merc has the charts backwards.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Don S said:

Go to the next page in the guide, Merc has the charts backwards.

Click to expand...

WHich page??? im confused...lol

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Then it says check battery voltage at terminal 6 (which is for the in/down) while trimming Out/up.. Why would you test going the opposite direction? Am i missing something?

Click to expand...

The info you said doesn't make any since is at the bottom of page 1C-13, if you go to page 1C-14 at the top, you will see they have the up and down testing information on the wrong pages.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

If you hear anything "click" when you hit the down switch and nothing happens then the copper contacts inside the solenoid could be worn or dirty.

If you have a digital multi meter, you can check for voltage on the studs. You should have 12V on one and 12V on the other when the button is pushed. If no voltage appears when you press the down button, then check for 12V on the coil. The two small lugs. You should read 12V across the two when the button is pushed.

If not, then you need to find where you are losing the 12V at. If you do have voltage and nothing happens, unwire the two small studs and turn your meter to OHMs and check resistance of the coil. It should read +/- 2ohms, if the meter does nothing, displays a HUGE number, or displays "OL", then the coil is open.

You can take them apart and see why they dont work. All you do is take it off the trim pump bracket and release the metal tabs holding the bottom plate to the plastic case of the solenoid. There will be a spring and some small parts in it so be careful when taking it apart. I had the same problem and found the silver contacts were worn off the copper plate. I just replaced mine.

If you are in a bind and need them working now you can try cleaning them up and it may start working again, but it may last ten minutes or ten weeks.

Worst case scenario, the circuit in the motor is open or shorted.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

sjohnson44 said:

If you hear anything "click" when you hit the down switch and nothing happens then the copper contacts inside the solenoid could be worn or dirty.

If you have a digital multi meter, you can check for voltage on the studs. You should have 12V on one and 12V on the other when the button is pushed. If no voltage appears when you press the down button, then check for 12V on the coil. The two small lugs. You should read 12V across the two when the button is pushed.

If not, then you need to find where you are losing the 12V at. If you do have voltage and nothing happens, unwire the two small studs and turn your meter to OHMs and check resistance of the coil. It should read +/- 2ohms, if the meter does nothing, displays a HUGE number, or displays "OL", then the coil is open.

You can take them apart and see why they dont work. All you do is take it off the trim pump bracket and release the metal tabs holding the bottom plate to the plastic case of the solenoid. There will be a spring and some small parts in it so be careful when taking it apart. I had the same problem and found the silver contacts were worn off the copper plate. I just replaced mine.

If you are in a bind and need them working now you can try cleaning them up and it may start working again, but it may last ten minutes or ten weeks.

Worst case scenario, the circuit in the motor is open or shorted.

Click to expand...

i have replaced the bottom solenoid already. i do not get any click while pressing down. I have checked voltage on the small green wire and do not get any voltage. Trim works in the up/out position.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Is it just a green wire, or is it a green and white wire?

Any rate, now you can check continuity between the red/purple wire and the green/white wire.
The red purple wire is the "control voltage" for the solenoids and when the trim buttons are pressed it sends power from that wire to the green/white wire to the down solenoid. Get a friend to push the down button for you while you check for continuity. You should have it when it is pressed.

At this point, I bet you have a bad trim switch at your remote or a loose connection there. Or possibly it can be a bad connection in the plug at the trim motor as well, but I dont see it being that as its not something that generally gets unplugged and plugged back up all the time.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

nairboarding said:

i have replaced the bottom solenoid already. i do not get any click while pressing down. I have checked voltage on the small green wire and do not get any voltage. Trim works in the up/out position.

Click to expand...

Then you have a problem in the wiring from the solenoid to the helm control, or the button in the control itself. Look at the wiring diagram on the last page of the troubleshooting guide.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Don S said:

Then you have a problem in the wiring from the solenoid to the helm control, or the button in the control itself. Look at the wiring diagram on the last page of the troubleshooting guide.

Click to expand...

thanks for everyone's help. i have narrowed the problem to the thumb switch on the shifter.

Where would be a good place to order one?

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Just a thought here, before you buy the rocker switch. Did you pull and check the switch and did it test bad? I had the same problem in my last boat ('99 Stingray). It had the Quicksilver throttle control. The wiring coming straight from the switch down through the handle had rubbed almost in half. It would work intermittently and finally quit working at all. Pulled it apart, soldered and heat shrinked the wires and my problem was fixed. Took about 10 minutes to fix. You may have a bad switch but it's worth checking the wires if you have not done so already. Good luck.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

The wires chaffing is a common problem, but usually found on much older controls, but well worth checking before trying to replace the switch.
The switches are a Mercruiser only part, you would have to get it from a Merc dealer
Do you have a picture of the control you have? They aren't listed by year and boat make.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Don S said:

The wires chaffing is a common problem, but usually found on much older controls, but well worth checking before trying to replace the switch.
The switches are a Mercruiser only part, you would have to get it from a Merc dealer
Do you have a picture of the control you have? They aren't listed by year and boat make.

Click to expand...

i dont have a picture with me today, but it is for a mercury 4000 shifter.

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

Here is the manual for the 4000. Might help in the repairs.


http://www.4shared.com/office/VCbK0fKk/4000_Control.html

Re: Trouble with my trim going down, but not going up????

As usual, Don got all the right links.

Man, how I'd love to have a catalog of all his links!