60Hp Mercury Tilt/Trim Not Working

[Dave Desilets]

2006 Mercury 60HP ELPH EFI Tilt and trim not working. Trying to use cowl switch and got no response except for clicking relay's for both up and down. Battery voltage 12.5V
I tried replacing the cowl switch, no change. Tried replacing both relay's, no change.
Troubleshooting:
Checked fuses: OK None blown and looked clean, checked with meter.
Checked connections at main power and cleaned terminals.
Pulled relay's and checked for voltage from trim switch: Result - OK 12.5V for both up and down.
I pulled one relay at a time jumped red to green, then red to blue: Results: Trim motor ran just fine in both directions, no hesitation, ran perfectly.
Put everything back together with new switch and relays: Results: Same, no op in either direction.
Pulled new parts out and put old parts back in: Results: Same, no op in either direction.
The manual doesn't cover this issue, and after checking the wiring diagram in the manual
I've gone over the whole circuit and looked at everything and cannot find anything that looked broken or suspicious. I've had problems with the helm switch not working with broken wires but the cowl switch has always worked. So everything checked out as far as I can tell, but obviously, there must be a problem somewhere that I'm missing. I'm at a loss, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Dave

 

[Chris1956]

OK, you changed the trim switch and the relays, and jumpered the PTT motor. The motor works when jumpered, but not when using the switch and relays.

Relays have light duty wiring to their primary windings. Since the relays click, this wiring is likely good. You also know the PTT motor is good. So that leaves the larger heavy secondary wires to the relays that actually provide the power and voltage to the PTT motor.

These secondary wires usually connect to the starter solenoid for +12VDC, and a block ground for -12VDC. Those connections would be suspect #1.

 

[Dave Desilets]

Thanks for the reply. What I did was pull one of the relays and jumped from the red wire to the either the green or blue wire and the motor worked and then put that relay back in and pulled the other out and did the same thing. The motor worked perfectly in both situations. Now, when I say pulled the relay and jumped the wires that's doing it to the harness that the relay attaches to. In my mind, this tells me that the circuit from the main feed including the fuses, to the relay, and back to the motor in both the up and down circuit is good as the only thing that I was doing was eliminating the relay. I know that the 12V feed from the switch to the relay is good as I tested that with my meter from the cowl switch and it worked in both directions. And the results were the same with a new switch. It's me, per usual I wind up with a problem that nobody has ever had, not even Mercury. But, it all worked before and now it doesn't and nothing else has been changed or replaced. There is a problem somewhere, just have to find it. Probably will find it when looking for something else!

 

[Chris1956]

I sincerely doubt that you have an issue never seen before. PTT systems are pretty simple, once you get familiar with them.

OK, by jumpering each relay at a time, you seem to have eliminated the heavy power and ground wire corrosion. Now you need to check the relay primary circuit. Since you have new relays, we will assume they are good. Normally PTT wiring harnesses will have bullet connectors. Disconnect the two that go to the cowl and control switches and feed +12VDC to the blue/white and green/white PTT wires. If that doesn't prove to be the issue, chck the small ground wires to the relays.

 

[Dave Desilets]

Thanks for the reply Chris! I agree, the heavy power circuit seems to be OK.
So the connection from the motor to the relay's is working just fine. As you say the control circuit is next circuit to check. I initially unplugged the cowl trim switch and plugged in a new switch. That didn't change anything. Both the up and down relay's clicked the same as before. I then pulled the relay's one at a time and checked the 12V feed to small black ground wire circuit with a multimeter and both relay circuits checked out fine when I operated the cowl switch. I do realize that when checking any circuit with a multimeter it only proves that there is a connection from point A to point B. So, after sitting down and talking to the motor hoping to get some help, I didn't hear anything so I put the relays back in checked to be sure that everything that I touched was all back together and disconnected the cowl switch again and fed 12V to each of the relays directly from the battery.
No change. Again, the battery is still at 12.5VDC. and all fuses are good.
Now according to the manual, the motor cowl switch and the helm trim switch are independent but the manual wiring diagram shows that the trim up and down circuits are connected. As I stated previously I have had problems with the helm trim wiring but I never had a problem with the cowl switch not tilting the motor up or down, now both switches don't work. Now, Is there any possibility that the problem is not at the motor, but something between the motor and the helm switch causing this problem? That is the last part of this whole problem that I haven't checked because I really don't think that the problem is in that circuit, but you know what happened to think!

 

[Chris1956]

Not sure what else to add. Relays need to provide either ground when not energized or power to the PTT motor when energized.

Perhaps the primary winding is not getting enough amperage to energize the relays? I would find a up or down primary wire connection as close to the relays as possible, and jumper directly to the battery and see if the relays energize.

The cowl switch and helm switch are connected in parallel.

 

[Dave Desilets]

This is a great idea and it's been in the back of my mind to do this. This is always a problem with using a meter. it will tell you that you are connected but all you need is one strand of a wire to drive the meter but there will not be enough current to operate the device. I did look for pinched, frayed otherwise damaged wires and cleaned up the end terminals at the main connections but may have missed something along the way. Like they say, leave no stone unturned!

 

[Chris1956]

The primary power necessary to power the relays is likely 3Amps. So set the multimeter to 10A scale, and see what your wires put out.

 

[Dave Desilets]

You're absolutely correct! Why didn't remember that. I can't see the forest for the trees I guess. Might have to wait a bit to check this out because "she who must be obeyed" told me that I have spent too much time working on the boat and it needs to go back in the water so she can cool off on these hot nights! So it's back in the water now and being a pontoon, it's tough to hang over the back and can't beach it. At least I know what to do when the time comes. I have a big note on my desk to post the results when I try the meter at 10A. Oh, by the way, the helm trim still doesn't work after putting it in the water. No surprise. Thanks!

 

[airshot]

Does she know how to operate a paddle ?

 

[Dave Desilets]

Yes she does, and I have the scars to prove it!

 

[1975oday22]

does your tilt work when engine is running?

 

[Dave Desilets]

Nope, it doesn't work with engine running or not, key on or not. There is no response from the engine switch or the helm switch or with the helm switch in F-N-orR. Otherwise the engine runs just fine.