1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

[patrickj]

here ya go frank or rritt i need yalls help my tilt and trim isnt wired through any relays or solenoid... just wired to a switch that goes straight to the battery ... someone told me the solenoids or relays help it with lifting the motor.

 

[wolfie-uk]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

Relays can be a pain, water ingression etc, and the current path is shorter, but in my case / experiance not a lot of differance to the older 3 wire system i prefer. A well serviced pump / brushes / plumbing and filled with correct fluid will work the same weather relays or old style.

 

[maverick974]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

I have a 1984 Force. 85 hp and my tilt/trim system was the same as yours. No relays. It worked fine but I was going thru toggle switches. Running 30 amps (or whatever it is) directly thru the switch would heat the switch up if I was using it more than a few seconds at a time and it would eventually burn out the toggle switch. It was more so when I was tilting the engine up because it's pushing the weight up and hence using more power. Going down is much easier. I was going thru a toggle switch about once a month when I was on the water a lot.
Anyway, what I did was to install a standard Ford starter relay and it solved my problem.
Easy to install and it was a very cheap fix. I probably didn't spend 20 dollars for the relay, wiring and connectors.
I only installed the rely on the up side. The down side still goes directly thru the toggle switch.
Something to think about.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

Relays do not "HELP" with lifting the engine. The advantage of the relay system is that you are not putting the full power through the switch. The switch just takes the power necessary to close the relay. Thus: You do not need a 30 amp rated switch and have much less power going up to the dashboard..

However, if your system is functioning OK, why mess with it?

 

[patrickj]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

yea it hesistates a little going up but works fine... havent burned a switch yet... think ill leave it be.

 

[RRitt]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

1987 is 3w motor direct wired to a switch. relays cut down on length of wire and improve performance when battery is low or weak. It is a more reliable system for people with unreliable batteries. costs about $35 to convert from 3w to 2w. the biggest hassle is running a 2c control lead from switch to outboard. after that it is under 2 hours job. same as 2w relays except that you pull ground wires off relay pin # 87A

 

[patrickj]

Re: 1987 force 85 hp tilt and trim wiring

i definitly dont have unreliable batteries, are you suggesting i switch to a 2 wire motor??