mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

Old Yeller Boater

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just finished replacing my starter and battery. Not sure if it is in any way related, but my outdrive will not go down either by the switch on the control, or the trim switch on the dash. I don't think I disturbed any wires. Any input on how to troubleshoot my problem?

it's an 87 Larson dc190 with 3.7. If I try raising it, I get a brief whir and then silence, but since it's all the way up already, that may not be a problem, but tells me that controls are working in some way.
 

dingdongs

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May 29, 2009
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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

run a +ve from battery and briefly touch in on the green connection.should go down.if pump works its your connections beforehand.i.e.switch.do you have a multimeter?
remember ; blue 4 sky = up & green 4 grass = down.
are you sure the earth connection to the pump is good too.clean and refit.
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

thanks. I'll check it tomorrow. I would now, but its raining AGAIN here in NC. :-(
 

Fishin Magician

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

hydrolic fluid levels are needed to perform propely...just sayin..good luck
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

it was working fine earlier in the week and has just been sitting in my driveway. Last night I installed the new starter and a battery, and also adjusted my timing, but nothing to do with the outdrive. When I went to lower it, nothing. I'm suspicious that it's the switch in the control. The "up" switch was only raising the outdrive just a small ways, but would not raise the outdrive all the way up. There is a second switch on the dash that I use any time I take the boat out of the water. that switch raises it all the way. The switch on the dash has never lowered the outdrive though. my boat manual only refers to this as the switch for high-tilt or trailering and says not to use it for boat operation in the water. for lowering when putting the boat into the water, I've always used the switch on the control.
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

found another thread pointing to mercruiser manual 6 with some troubleshooting info. Hopefully I can figure it out from there. :eek:
 

oldjeep

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

it was working fine earlier in the week and has just been sitting in my driveway. Last night I installed the new starter and a battery,

If you installed a new battery - make sure you actually got all the wires put back on it. Trim pump usually has its own wires to the battery.
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

If you installed a new battery - make sure you actually got all the wires put back on it. Trim pump usually has its own wires to the battery.

never hurts to double check. I'll take another look! :)
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

ok, I think I have a couple problems going on but scratching my head to figure them out. I cleaned and tested connections on both solenoids.

here's how things worked originally - with the outdrive all the way down, the UP on the control would only work a small amount, enough for trimming on plane. Otherwise, the trim switch on the dashboard would raise the outdrive all the way up. For down, the dashboard trim switch would do nothing, but the down button on the control worked.

then the down stopped working. Using a jumper, I could override it and lower it directly from the battery. I switched the solenoid and the down now works at the control, but the up at the dashboard trim switch does not.

sounds like in addition to the down solenoid being bad, there is something else that was keeping the up switch at the control from working.

anyone have any thoughts?
 

dingdongs

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

if you have two solinoids they both need to be working.you have a trim limit switch in the drive but they can be sorted later.wires normally corrode.
you will need a multimeter to test switches continuity that it is working.sometimes they fall apart inside/oxidize too.
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

yeah, thinking that. step one is to get the bad solenoid working. One should arrive by Wednesday. After that, I'll go through the troubleshooting guide again. Could be the switch at the control, or the trim limiters. I did carefully take those apart, but they seemed to be in pretty good shape in the inside.
 

DaveG55

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

with the outdrive all the way down, the UP on the control would only work a small amount, enough for trimming on plane. Otherwise, the trim switch on the dashboard would raise the outdrive all the way up. For down, the dashboard trim switch would do nothing, but the down button on the control worked.

That's the way it is susposed to work and indicates that your trim limit switch is working properly.
I have seen this set up where the dash (trailer) switch would lower the drive as well but it is not necessary since the control handle switch will do it just fine.

then the down stopped working. Using a jumper, I could override it and lower it directly from the battery. I switched the solenoid and the down now works at the control, but the up at the dashboard trim switch does not.

sounds like in addition to the down solenoid being bad, there is something else that was keeping the up switch at the control from working.

I don't think there is anything wrong except for a bad down solinoid. When you switched the wires to the solinoids you put the bad solinoid into the "up" circuit. A standard trouble shooting technique is to swap parts and if the problem moves you have identified the bad part. Your problem moved so you have a bad solinoid. Put the wiring back and replace the bad down solinoid and then check the operation before you start changing anything else and create more problems for yourself. If, once the new part is in and the wiring restored, you still have problems THEN continue trouble shooting.
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

Solenoids arrived yesterday. I got them put in when I got home from work, but no time to really test them out cause I had to head out to my grandson's birthday dinner. I did check the control switches and up and down are both working again. Didn't check the dashboard switch yet. :)
 

halcrimm

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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

Having the same problem as the original post. Replaced Starter this week and now outdrive will not lower. When I press the down switch on the tilt or trim all I get is a click. I will check for bad solenoid as old yeller boater did. hopefully that is my problem. Pressing the up switch all is fine.

Just wanted to chime in and let you all know how important your information is.
Thanks for helping all of us.
Hal
 

Old Yeller Boater

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Messages
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Re: mercruiser alpha 1 outdrive won't lower

Having the same problem as the original post. Replaced Starter this week and now outdrive will not lower. When I press the down switch on the tilt or trim all I get is a click. I will check for bad solenoid as old yeller boater did. hopefully that is my problem. Pressing the up switch all is fine.

Just wanted to chime in and let you all know how important your information is.
Thanks for helping all of us.
Hal

Hal, not sure what your outdrive model is, but at the end of manual 6 there is a troubleshooting section for the solenoids. It was pretty straight-forward with a multi meter. good luck. The good news is that new ones are only like 20 bucks, so a relatively inexpensive fix!
 
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