96 Johnson 115 hp Tilt Trim - Isolated Problem, now What?

Hi,

I have a '96 Johnson 115hp v4 - great engine. Tilt/trim recently started acting funny - it would go up and not down. Troubleshooting reveals the fault lies somewhere between the "out" relay (out to Trim motor) and the 1st connector in the wiring from the relay box. I ran a couple wires from connector end to other connector end, and then reversed them. I found that when I reversed them, the green wire connection works between connectors, but the blue wire connection does not. See photos.


My question is - is this normally a bad wire issue or do I have to replace the relay? The whole relay box? I feel like I have looked at this too long and the answer is right in front of me but I cant see it!

Thanks!

Re: 96 Johnson 115 hp Tilt Trim - Isolated Problem, now What?

I meant to add that I also swiched relays to see if that would give me any indication of the problem but switching relays continues the same problem (tilt goes up, not down) and does not reverse.

See photos. The 1st photo shows the connector that is disconnected. The second picture is of the top portion of the connector, next to its wires going coming out of the relay.

Re: 96 Johnson 115 hp Tilt Trim - Isolated Problem, now What?

I reversed the relays again and this time it blew the ignition fuse!

MustangBo said:

I meant to add that I also swiched relays to see if that would give me any indication of the problem but switching relays continues the same problem (tilt goes up, not down) and does not reverse.

See photos. The 1st photo shows the connector that is disconnected. The second picture is of the top portion of the connector, next to its wires going coming out of the relay.

View attachment 148994View attachment 148995

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Re: 96 Johnson 115 hp Tilt Trim - Isolated Problem, now What?

Reposting to see if anyone knows anything

Re: 96 Johnson 115 hp Tilt Trim - Isolated Problem, now What?

Relays are switches that provide ground when not energized, and power when energized. So when you push up button, power is supplied to blue wire (via energized relay) and ground to green wires (relay not energized). When you push down button, ground is supplied to blue wire (relay not energized) ad power to green wire (relay energized). So the issue can be power to down relay. See if that is the issue. The wire color should be Green/white.