Power Trim Control Panel

[Rivergator]

I need your help to clear up a lot of confusion on my part about the power trim system. As you know, I don't know much about my own boat because I never had a chance to drive it since I bought it several years ago, because it was trashed and needed a complete restoration of which I am almost done with. So I have no experience with the way how some of the things on my boat actually work. I am in the process of checking out and testing my power trim system and I have encountered a number of problems already. I know that my entire trim pump cluster works because I overhauled it and bench tested it. That includes the solenoids of course. When I push the up and down trailer button on the shift lever of my remote every thing works fine. When I push the buttons on the helm, nothing works and that as of right now makes sense as I have already found a broken wire behind the dash but don't know where it goes. That's why I need your help especially from Sylvan owners who may have the same dash board control panel as I have. Picture #1 is what I have on my boat but my boat's manual does not show that. What it shows is picture #2. Here is question number one. Looking at picture #2 why are there 3 buttons? I would imagine there is the up button and the drive goes up and there is the down button and the drive goes down. And why are they marked so confusingly? The middle button and the top button say UP and then the middle button and the bottom button say OUT and IN. WTF, why doesn't it say DOWN. I am confused. What am I missing here? Now to picture number #1. There is a big button with an arrow pointing up and I assume when you push that button the drive will go up (but it won't right now because this is the button which has a broken wire). Then underneath is a toggle switch. Now what is that for? If there was another button with an arrow pointing downwards I would assume that is what you push if you want the drive to go down. Once all of these questions have been answered and I understand how this is supposed to work then I guess it will be relatively easy for me to chase and find where the broken wire goes.

 

[alldodge]

Since you do not have the 3 button on the dash I would ignore it, but to advise how it works:

Up is trim up
Down is trim down
To bring the drive all the way UP for trailering you would push Up and up/out at the same time. The 2 buttons are used together to make sure the drive is not trimmed past the limit switch om the port side of the drive gimbal ring

Taking a guess at your panel, the center Tilt switch is to trim up or down. The switch below it should trim the drive full up for trailering

The trailer switch in both the panel mount ( up and up/out and the lower current switch) should make a connection which bypasses the trim limit on the drive gimbal and have power go direct to the up relay.

To show how the new system work see pic.
Red is 12V power
Blue is up (think sky)
Green is down (think grass)

Normal trim up the purple/white wire feeds 12V thru the trim limit to the up relay. Once limit is reached the relay cannot be powered. The trailer function bypasses the limit switch by using the Blue/white directly to relay. Thie first pic shows if all trim buttons where on the throttle control

 

[kenny nunez]

I need your help to clear up a lot of confusion on my part about the power trim system. As you know, I don't know much about my own boat because I never had a chance to drive it since I bought it several years ago, because it was trashed and needed a complete restoration of which I am almost done with. So I have no experience with the way how some of the things on my boat actually work. I am in the process of checking out and testing my power trim system and I have encountered a number of problems already. I know that my entire trim pump cluster works because I overhauled it and bench tested it. That includes the solenoids of course. When I push the up and down trailer button on the shift lever of my remote every thing works fine. When I push the buttons on the helm, nothing works and that as of right now makes sense as I have already found a broken wire behind the dash but don't know where it goes. That's why I need your help especially from Sylvan owners who may have the same dash board control panel as I have. Picture #1 is what I have on my boat but my boat's manual does not show that. What it shows is picture #2. Here is question number one. Looking at picture #2 why are there 3 buttons? I would imagine there is the up button and the drive goes up and there is the down button and the drive goes down. And why are they marked so confusingly? The middle button and the top button say UP and then the middle button and the bottom button say OUT and IN. WTF, why doesn't it say DOWN. I am confused. What am I missing here? Now to picture number #1. There is a big button with an arrow pointing up and I assume when you push that button the drive will go up (but it won't right now because this is the button which has a broken wire). Then underneath is a toggle switch. Now what is that for? If there was another button with an arrow pointing downwards I would assume that is what you push if you want the drive to go down. Once all of these questions have been answered and I understand how this is supposed to work then I guess it will be relatively easy for me to chase and find where the broken wire goes.

 

[Rivergator]

Thanks Alldodge. That will get me started. Now I know the flow of current and I will see if the broken wire is an incoming or outgoing wire. Normally the wire colors will point you in the right direction but it looks like Sylvan did a little bit of their own behind the dash but eventually I will get it sorted. My first task is to find the missing other end of the broken wire in the wire harness and reconnect that. That should be fairly easy now and I get to it the minute it stops raining here. Then I will see if my dash controls work similar to what you explained. There are still a few unclear points that I need to get further into. I will get back then.

 

[kenny nunez]

Probably the lower toggle switch was the trim control which was wired through the trim limit switch on the gimbal housing. The top button is probably the trailer button for full tilt. Sylvan probably cut corners and did not use the genuine Mercruiser control that has the trim/tilt controls on the shift handle.

 

[bbook83]

Probably the lower toggle switch was the trim control which was wired through the trim limit switch on the gimbal housing. The top button is probably the trailer button for full tilt. Sylvan probably cut corners and did not use the genuine Mercruiser control that has the trim/tilt controls on the shift handle.

Rivergator has not said what year his unit is, but the three button panel shown in his picture #2, from his boat manual, was the mercruiser trim/tilt switch setup used before the switches moved to the shifter/throttle arm. Pushing the top button trimmed the drive up. Pushing the bottom button trimmed it down, or brought it down from trailering to operating mode. Pushing the top and middle buttons together bypasses the trim limit switch to bring the drive up to trailering position. The boat manufacturer may have eliminated the three button panel in favor of the setup in picture #1, but having arm mounted switches also would indicate to me that a later model shifter/throttle arm was installed at some point.

 

[bbook83]

Rivergator has not said what year his unit is, but the three button panel shown in his picture #2, from his boat manual, was the mercruiser trim/tilt switch setup used before the switches moved to the shifter/throttle arm. Pushing the top button trimmed the drive up. Pushing the bottom button trimmed it down, or brought it down from trailering to operating mode. Pushing the top and middle buttons together bypasses the trim limit switch to bring the drive up to trailering position. The boat manufacturer may have eliminated the three button panel in favor of the setup in picture #1, but having arm mounted switches also would indicate to me that a later model shifter/throttle arm was installed at some point.

I see now that Rivergator has posted elsewhere that his boat is an ‘88, along with pictures of the shift/throttle arm, apparently eliminating my idea of the arm being added later. The 3 button switch being in the manual makes me think the switches in picture 1 substitute for the three button switch, with the push button being for unlimited up to trailering position and the toggle being up and down trim. Why that would be there if there are arm switches, I have no idea. Can you trace the wires from the dash switch to see if they even go to the solenoids?

 

[Rivergator]

Probably the lower toggle switch was the trim control which was wired through the trim limit switch on the gimbal housing. The top button is probably the trailer button for full tilt. Sylvan probably cut corners and did not use the genuine Mercruiser control that has the trim/tilt controls on the shift handle.

Thanks Kenny and bbook83. Here is a picture of the shift handle which shows the built in up/down switch I believe is for the trailer, because I can see the symbol showing a boat on a trailer. Correct me if I am wrong. This function works fine. I believe all of this is original and the way it came from the factory. So why incorporate the trailer function into the dash board panel when it is already on the shifter. If the Sylvan engineers were thinking straight there would be no need for that. The dash control panel is strictly tilt and trim safely calibrated and restricted by the trim limiter mounted on the port side of the gimbal ring and the shifter is trailer override. I am thinking out loud here, that would make sense. Again correct me if I am wrong. Without a doubt my next move must be finding and fixing that broken wire and see what happens after that.

 

[Scott06]

Thanks Kenny and bbook83. Here is a picture of the shift handle which shows the built in up/down switch I believe is for the trailer, because I can see the symbol showing a boat on a trailer. Correct me if I am wrong. This function works fine. I believe all of this is original and the way it came from the factory. So why incorporate the trailer function into the dash board panel when it is already on the shifter. If the Sylvan engineers were thinking straight there would be no need for that. The dash control panel is strictly tilt and trim safely calibrated and restricted by the trim limiter mounted on the port side of the gimbal ring and the shifter is trailer override. I am thinking out loud here, that would make sense. Again correct me if I am wrong. Without a doubt my next move must be finding and fixing that broken wire and see what happens after that.

Like like a standard merc shifter Normally the up button has two detents, first one is trim up to the limit...push it in deeper to second detent for trailer up ...if the trim limit switch is broken only the trailer up will work as trim will think its at the limit already ...

What year is the boat? it may have been repowered with newer drive and or shifter?

 

[kenny nunez]

I have to agree with Scott. Most likely the control was up graded in the past.

 

[Rivergator]

Like like a standard merc shifter Normally the up button has two detents, first one is trim up to the limit...push it in deeper to second detent for trailer up ...if the trim limit switch is broken only the trailer up will work as trim will think its at the limit already ...

What year is the boat? it may have been repowered with newer drive and or shifter?

1988. But as to the repower I don't think so. A year ago Mercuiser confirmed all serial numbers on my boat based on HIN and they match with what is in the boat now. We will get to the bottom of it sooner or later like we usually do.

 

[Scott06]

1988. But as to the repower I don't think so. A year ago Mercuiser confirmed all serial numbers on my boat based on HIN and they match with what is in the boat now. We will get to the bottom of it sooner or later like we usually do.

May have just replaced the shifter what I had on my 91 boat looked like this one

MERCRUISER QUICKSILVER THROTTLE SHIFT CONTROL ASSY / SHIFTER | eBay

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It was squaerer and separate buttons for trim and trailer vs detent

 

[QBhoy]

Hi. Not sure what the first picture and the tilt toggle there is at all. Certainly not the norm for the trim I’d think. But the second picture is of the old mercruiser trim control found in the 70’s mostly. The top button trims up to the extreme of the trim movement. The middle button and the top button held together will tilt up past that and into full trailer mode and all the way up. The bottom button will tilt and trim down. I had that control on a 1979 mercruiser boat.
Are you sure the first picture and the tilt toggle shown isn’t for something else like the engine hatch or similar?

 

[QBhoy]

Thanks Kenny and bbook83. Here is a picture of the shift handle which shows the built in up/down switch I believe is for the trailer, because I can see the symbol showing a boat on a trailer. Correct me if I am wrong. This function works fine. I believe all of this is original and the way it came from the factory. So why incorporate the trailer function into the dash board panel when it is already on the shifter. If the Sylvan engineers were thinking straight there would be no need for that. The dash control panel is strictly tilt and trim safely calibrated and restricted by the trim limiter mounted on the port side of the gimbal ring and the shifter is trailer override. I am thinking out loud here, that would make sense. Again correct me if I am wrong. Without a doubt my next move must be finding and fixing that broken wire and see what happens after that.

That’s newer than original if original is 88. That’s the same Control as my 2003 mercruiser has. You toggle the up button for trim and hole in further to go into trailer mode. Two stage switch. Often further down the wiring on those there may be an additional tie in wiring from a transom mounted tilt switch too. Either functional (if fitted to some modern boats) or not used and left dormant in the loom. Just in case it caused confusion to you perhaps. That control will also have an in gear interlock too in its wiring usually

 

[bbook83]

You attached this photo in another post. What does the red toggle switch below the arm do?

 

[bbook83]

Attached is the 1988 Sylvan sales brochure. The picture of the 209 shows a different control than you have. The picture of the dash is not clear enough to tell of it includes what you showed in your first picture.

 

[Rivergator]

You attached this photo in another post. What does the red toggle switch below the arm do?

Wow, bbooks83, you are a digger and pretty clever at that. Thanks for pulling up the brochure. I appreciate that. Unfortunately you can't see much but it does look different. Maybe the Barritz was different. Are you referring to the switch in the lower left corner in the grey area? When I toggle that switch everything shuts down. I believe this is where the lanyard/kill line goes, but I am not sure because I don't have a kill line for this boat

 

[QBhoy]

You attached this photo in another post. What does the red toggle switch below the arm do?

Lanyard kill switch

 

[bbook83]

Lanyard kill switch

That makes sense. Hopefully you can ignore the dash switches and go with those on the control arm.

 

[dubs283]

When I push the up and down trailer button on the shift lever of my remote every thing works fine.

So what's the problem?

Not sure why you've posted a pic of the old style 3 button dash mounted trim/tilt control seeing as how you don't have it and most likely never did.

It's quite obvious someone has replaced the original remote control with an updated oem control that includes the trim/tilt control that you state works fine. The controller you have pictured did not exist in 1988, hence the reason someone did right by utilizing the new style trim/tilt control located on the handle thus abating the dash mounted tilt/trailer button and toggle.

I can't say as to what style remote/trim tilt controls your boat originally had but based on the pictures and information you've provided someone used what was available oem and has correctly installed wiring so the trim/tilt system is operational