Mercruiser trim stuck in up position

[Jay E.]

My 1997 mercruiser trim is stuck in the up position. Left it up for a couple of weeks and then it wouldn't go down. The motor runs when I press the down switch and I verified that the solenoid was engaging. I have stood on the lower unit when the down switch was pressed and it still didn't move. I did add some fluid while the unit was in the up position and now know that was wrong, but I don't believe air got in the lines.

After pressing the down switch for several seconds, I press the trailer switch and the unit seems to bump up slightly.

Any suggestions on things to try to get the unit down? Thanks.

 

[wrench 3]

Disconnect the outer ends of both rams (lower the drive carefully by hand). Run the down switch until the pump starts to load and see if both rams retracted. If one of them didn't retract, it's seized up.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Can try to reverse the lines at the pump, the pressure to trim up is a lot more than whats needed to trim down.
Lower the drive and re-reverse the lines at the pump

 

[kenny nunez]

How about a picture of the rams.

 

[jakwi]

I had this happen to me earlier this year. I replaced the relay's, which are available really cheaply on amazon, and that helped a little, more movement, less clicking, but in the end I had to rebuild my trim ram cylinders. It was a fairly easy job. The end caps corrode over time, and the seals start to press in on the rams. Creates a lot of friction. I had to buy a seal kit and two new end caps. I think I spent roughly $140 to rebuild both instead of $300 to replace them.

The hardest part was getting the end caps off the rams.

 

[Jay E.]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was finally able to disconnect the rams and the port side ram is seized. Ordered an after market replacement. Hopefully, I will be good to go when that arrives.

 

[wrench 3]

Look up the instructions for bleeding the system when you get it assembled.

 

[Edelson]

There’s a really easy way to bypass the trim. Go in the back of the transom and you’ll find the motor for the trim. It looks like a black oil filter with a green and blue wire coming out of it. Take the cover off the bolts where the wires go and you’ll find four nuts arranged vertically. If you touch the upper two bolts with a piece of metal it will trim up. Touch the lower two bolts and the trim will go down. Battery needs to be on. You may see some sparks but you won’t get shocked. This bypasses the switch on the throttle and the solenoid. Try this simple thing first. It worked for me and takes five minutes. And you can do it with the boat in the water

 

[alldodge]

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