1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

Tleffew

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Feb 11, 2013
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I don't know how to start a new thread, so I picked the closest one. I am restoring a 1985 bay liner trophy 1710 with a 85 horse Force. I have every manual and diagram in the world for this thing. I have it all wired up with new wiring,but I am drowning/failing terribly with the 2-relay wiring for the trim.. See this video I posted and I would greatly appreciate any help. I am doing multiple videos on this restore and will make a single video after completion, so I would be able to contribute to this site upon completion. Thanks in advance for the help! Video: Help with trim wiring plz - YouTube
 

aspeck

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Re: 1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

To start a new post, you go to the forum you want to post in and click on the big red button, that says "Start a New Thread."

but here you go, we got you started.
 

Frank Acampora

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Re: 1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

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Well, can't open the video but here are some tips.: Assuming you have the wire harness, there are two fine black wires and two heavy black wires. These are ALL grounds and should be bolted the the block, preferably at the negative battery cable. There are two heavy red wires. These are power to the motor through the relays when they close. You can attach them to the battery side of the starter solenoid OR--you can power them from a good 12 volt source through a circuit breaker (30 amp, same as engine circuit breaker.)

There is one fine green wire and one fine blue wire. These are signal and attach to the up-down switch.The center of this switch is powered 12 volts from a source under the dash. Green is down and blue is up.Since the switch is reversed, you attach the green to the top terminal and blue to the bottom. If you have a switch in the control handle attach color to color.

There is one heavy blue wire and one heavy green wire. These go directly to the motor.

Relays can be mounted anywhere convenient. I don't hsave any really good photos but perhaps these will help. It looks really complicated but in reality it is simple--just take your time.

OPERATION: When not energised, both heavy blue and green are at ground through the relays. Signal wires have no voltage, they are fed by the switch.

When one relay is energised by the fine signal wire, the other stays at ground and the energised relay sends 12 volts through the heavy wire. When the switch is moved the other way, the other fine signal wire energises the other relay. 12 volts is sent throught the heavy wire in the opposite direction and the motor spins in the opposite direction.
 

Tleffew

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Re: 1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

1989Wiring.jpgThank you guys for your input:

Tleffew:Would u mind checking my post and offering some advice? I have blown fuse after fuse and can't for the life of me figure out why... Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

RRitt: the 2w trim systems need a relay harness. the trim motor will have an inrush current. you should protect it with a 25amp slo-blo fuse between the starter post and relays. most factory force 2w systems used a circuit breaker mounted to the engine pan. the switch circuit is for control only and should not draw more than 1 amp. you should use 1989 85hp wiring diagrams as a reference.[/QUOTE]


Thank you for your response and tips. I used exactly that diagarm and wired it to a T following those instructions. I wonder if I could have a bad relay or something? Help with trim wiring plz - YouTube
That is a video of what is happening (colors used are different, but location of wiring is to form. Do you think a relay would be bad if it clicks? The up relay will click if I hit up on the toggle and the down relay will click if I hit down on the momentary switch. This happens with everything except for the 12v wire on each relay being wired in. As soon as I try to touch those things to current.....Wapow!!! I was able to see the video I posted if anyone wanted to try looking again. Thanks again. I just want to fish this spring...haha..wife is getting me new seats for bday. I can post pics videos if anybody thinks it owuld be helpful. I also posted on of the wiring diagrams I have checked my work against.
 
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RRitt

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Re: 1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

here is easier diagram
wiring.jpg
 

Frank Acampora

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Re: 1985 Force: Need help with Tilt and Trim

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Well, that looks like a rat's nest of wiring but I will take your word that it is wired correctly. However, the tilt/trim motor will draw 20 amps or so. You can NOT expect to touch wires as you are and not get a spark. Look at the wiring diagram on top of the relays to see if you are wired correctly.

I will get back in a couple of minutes with some photos and advice.

EDIT: While the relay is a different one, you can see that there is a schematic on top. You can also see in these photos the siamesed grounds (4 black), the siamesed hot (2 red), and the signal and power wires. Since both relays are at ground on the power wires, IF a relay goes bad or if both are not connected, the motor will not turn. Re-Read the operation description I wrote in the last post.

And Rritt's diagram above just about says it all. Use the 2 wire diagram on the left.
 

Tleffew

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Feb 11, 2013
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Problem Solved

Problem Solved

Thank you guys for your input! I found the issue, thanks to my good friend an Fleet Manager of our City's Police Department, Bill. My problem was that I had purchased replacement relays. While they looked exactly like what was on there, there was one small thing missing.... the letter "A". I failed to notice that the relays I had only had two 87s. Not an 87 and an 87a. The difference was single pole single throw vs single pole double throw (SPST, SPDT). see this site: Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT), Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) Automotive Relays I went to parts store and bought two new ones for 11.00 each and walah! Thanks again!
 
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