Diagnosing trim problems

[chartersj]

I posted in the steering and contols page but there doesnt seem to be as much traffic there as here, So i am having problems with getting my trim to work. The motor is out of the boat, and while its out i wanted to make sure everything in the boat worked, as i bought it in a not runnning state. I wired a battery into the fuse panel under the dash, and i can get the up and trailer button to work, but not the down function. So i jumpered out the trim limit switch at the transom and got the same results. I took the up/down control button apart and cleaned the contacts as well. I noticed on the back of the up/down switch red and green is UP, and red and purple is DOWN. so i traced the purple wire and it goes straight to the trim limit switch. Any ideas?

 

[stonyloam]

Hmmmm you should have a p/w wire from the switch to one black wire of the trim limit, the other black trim limit wire should go into a connector with two blue/w wires. Those control trim up and trailer (up solenoid). You should have a g/w wire going directly to down solenoid. The trim limit has nothing to do with down. It seems you have it backwards, (purple) blue/w is up/trailer, g/w is down. Find the down solenoid (with green/white wire) and jumper from the large red wire to thr g/w terminal. The solenoid should activate and the outdrive should go down. If not you may have a bad solenoid. You could also take your voltmeter and hold the red probe on the g/w wire ( at the solenoid), black probe on ground, hit the down switch, you should have 12V on the g/w wire. If you do and the solenoid does not activate, it is probably bad.

 

[chartersj]

Hmmmm you should have a p/w wire from the switch to one black wire of the trim limit, the other black trim limit wire should go into a connector with two blue/w wires. Those control trim up and trailer (up solenoid). You should have a g/w wire going directly to down solenoid. The trim limit has nothing to do with down. It seems you have it backwards, (purple) blue/w is up/trailer, g/w is down. Find the down solenoid (with green/white wire) and jumper from the large red wire to thr g/w terminal. The solenoid should activate and the outdrive should go down. If not you may have a bad solenoid. You could also take your voltmeter and hold the red probe on the g/w wire ( at the solenoid), black probe on ground, hit the down switch, you should have 12V on the g/w wire. If you do and the solenoid does not activate, it is probably bad.

OK thank you for the help, i will try that tomorrow. Is it hard on solenoids to cross them with a screw driver?

 

[stonyloam]

You want to jumper from the large red (12v) to the small terminal with the g/w wire. Should be no problem because you are not drawing a lot of current to activate the solenoid. It is not a good idea to jumper across the larger terminals because of the high current draw. A screwdriver or wire can very hot almost instantly. And sparks can fly. Probably more hazardous to you than the solenoid. If you suspect the solenoid you can swap the b/w and g/w wires. Then if the trailer does nothing and the down makes the outdrive go up, it is the solenoid. If the trailer makes it go down and the down does nothing, then you have an open either at the switch or the wire is bad.

 

[chartersj]

So i switched the blue/w and green/w wires at the solenoids and when i tried up (which was down) and it clicked, then started turning the motor, then switched them back, and now all switches are working, up/down and trim. Not sure if it was a stuck solenoid or what but everything seems good now.

 

[stonyloam]

Great, sounds like you may have had a bad connection with the green wire to the solenoid and when you swapped them around and back you now have a solid connection. If it clicks and does not start immediately, could be that the internal points that carry the larger current load may be getting pitted or burnt. Something to keep an eye on.

 

[chartersj]

Great, sounds like you may have had a bad connection with the green wire to the solenoid and when you swapped them around and back you now have a solid connection. If it clicks and does not start immediately, could be that the internal points that carry the larger current load may be getting pitted or burnt. Something to keep an eye on.

Yeah ok that makes sense too, i will definitely keep an eye on it. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[chartersj]

So I am having trim problems again. I am getting 12 volts to both solenoids but get no clicking or noise of any kind out of them with I try up or down buttons. I switched the blue and green from the trim motor and got no change. I crossed them with a screwdriver and the motor will run.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Then the solenoids are missing the ground wire or they are defective if that dont click

 

[achris]

Sorry, late to the party, and TLDR other replies, but here goes. Red is power in, blue is UP (as in the sky is blue) and green is DOWN (grass is green). The purple wire you see is the UP, but routed through the limit switch. Best way to check the solenoids is to put a 12 volt test wire on the small terminal green or blue. If you don't hear a click, put the probe point of a test light on the small black terminal (with power still on the small blue or green). If the light lights, you're missing the ground.

 

[chartersj]

Thanks for the replys, i have the whole assembly on the bench now and going over the connections. It does seem like a ground to me. Once in a blue moon both solenoids will come to life for 2-3 seconds then quit.

 

[Pete104]

You need seriously clean, tight connections! Not screw drivers for jumpers. Activate the noids as intended!!!

 

[chartersj]

I found some bad connections and got the assembly back in the boat. I now have up and trailer working again,, but no down. I swapped the b/w and g/w wires to the solenoids from the motor, and i get the same thing. Up and trailer works and down does not. Does this mean the switch on the shifter is bad or i have a broken wire from the switch to the trim pump plug?