Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

[buzzjet]

I have a 2010 225 Pro XS Mercury and Faria Analog gauges. My trim gauge has very poor range of motion. When the engine is trimmed all the way down, the gauge shows all the way down. When the engine is trimmed all the way up, the gauge shows less than 1/2 trim. When the engine is tilted all the way up as far as it will go, the gauge goes higher but never to full trim. How do I adjust this? The gauge itself does not have any adjustment on it. I am thinking my new boat either came with the wrong type of gauge or there is some other adjustment on the engine that I am missing.

I have always had Evinrudes before this engine and they show the full range of motion in the trim phase. For example, on my last evinrude, when the motor was trimmed all the way down, the gauge showed that. When running hard and trimmed all the way up, the gauge showed full trim. I need to figure out how to get this one to show that as well. Showing me a higher reading on the gauge above the trim in the tilt mode does not do me much good. Who is looking at the gauge then.

Any input will be appreciated.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

Ayuh,.... Bring it back to the dealer you bought it from,+ have them readjust the Sender....

 

[hkeiner]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

The sender (located on the motor) is adjustable. If you decide that taking the boat/motor to the dealer is too much trouble for this simple adjustment, you can try adjusting it yourself. You loosen a screw (or two) on the sender and move the sender a bit and re-tighten the screws. After a little trial and error, you should find the sweet spot postion for the sender so that the gauge reads OK.

 

[buzzjet]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

I have adjusted the sender. That does not help. The problem is that the range of motion on the gauge is only about 1/2 of what it should be. I checked Faria's website and they have resistance readings (ohms) that you can take to see what the sender is actually doing. They say that the resistance at full trim should be 160 ohms and 10 ohms all the way down. I only have 53 ohms at the top and 8 ohms at the bottom. Either the sender is bad and is not giving me the correct resistance to drive the gauge or the gauge is not calibrated correctly. I tried to contact Faria but they are closed until Jan 4th.

I just really wondered what other Merc owners are used to seeing from their trim gauges.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

Either the sender is bad and is not giving me the correct resistance to drive the gauge or the gauge is not calibrated correctly.

The gauges themselves are not calibrated. Based upon the readings that you are getting from the sender (assuming that your test ohmmeter is accurate), I would conclude that either the sender is bad or an incompatible sender is installed for the gauge you are using. That would be my conclusion anyway. Replacement senders are not expensive, but your dealer should take care of this for you under warranty. I would not consider replacing the gauge to accomodate the sender that is currently on the motor, if that was even possible.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

The gauges are often specific to the manuafacturer of the engine and often even include year ranges. They measure resistance just like a mulitimeter does.

There is not enough adjustment in the sender at the motor to correct the problem you are having so I suspect it's the wrong gauge or a faulty sender. I'd take it back and tell them to make it work right.

With the variances in gauges and senders, you could end up spending a lot of uncessecary money trying to find the right combo.

 

[buzzjet]

Re: Mercury Trim Gauge Range of Motion Issue

Good suggestions from all. On Monday, I plan to tackle this issue. I am interested to see what the gauge manufacturer (Faria) says. They may simply tell me that the boat manufacturer installed the wrong gauge in my boat. Who knows? I could have a Yamaha, Evinrude or some other trim gauge in there. After I get their input, then I will chase this down with the dealer. The dealer is a long ways away from me so it is not easy to just run over there for a small problem like this. I am sure they would take care of it because they are a very, very good dealer but the distance has me looking for a solution.

And the sender on the motor could be the wrong one. Merc could have made a mistake and then again, the sender may just be bad.