Tilt Not Working on MerCruiser Outdrive

[Aaron L]

I have have a 2006 SeaRay that is suddenly having issues with the tilt on the MerCruiser outdrive. When I tried to put the outdrive down, it did not respond and the radio cut out for a few seconds. Also, the horn did not work but all other electrical items seem to work as expected. Some of the times when I use the tilt/trim toggle switch there was a clicking noise, other times there was nothing. I have never had any issue with it in the past. I tried wiring directly from the battery to the trim motor and there was a clicking noise, but but no movement of the outdrive. I checked the fuses and for any obvious wiring issues. Thoughts?

 

[poconojoe]

It almost sounds like your battery is weak or you have corroded battery connections since your radio cut out when you attempted to energize the trim pump at the same time. Then you said you applied power to the trim pump, but there was only a click.
Clean all connections and load test the battery.

That being said, it is quite common for the trim motor solenoids to go bad. There two. One for up and one for down, but for both to go bad at the same time, I guess that's possible.
The solenoids are inexpensive and not hard to change.

It could the pump/motor is bad or the connections are just corroded.

Just for reference...
The green (color of grass) wire is for down and blue (color of the sky) is up.

Check voltage with a multimeter at the battery and at the trim solenoids while activating the trim switch.

 

[Aaron L]

It almost sounds like your battery is weak or you have corroded battery connections since your radio cut out when you attempted to energize the trim pump at the same time. Then you said you applied power to the trim pump, but there was only a click.
Clean all connections and load test the battery.

That being said, it is quite common for the trim motor solenoids to go bad. There two. One for up and one for down, but for both to go bad at the same time, I guess that's possible.
The solenoids are inexpensive and not hard to change.

It could the pump/motor is bad or the connections are just corroded.

Just for reference...
The green (color of grass) wire is for down and blue (color of the sky) is up.

Check voltage with a multimeter at the battery and at the trim solenoids while activating the trim switch.

Thank you very much. I appreciate the input.

 

[tank1949]

Thank you very much. I appreciate the input.

Clean battery cables first. Then, manually jump just to be sure that throttle switch is not problem. If rams will not go down but only up, I suspect you will need piston rebuild. I had to rebuild both of mine but my boat is an 86 and heavily salt water used. Salt water and aluminum don't play well.

 

[poconojoe]

I once had a problem at the lake while pulling the boat out.
My drive wouldn't go up. After a few attempts, it finally went up. It turned out it was the up solenoid. I replaced both up and down solenoids and it's been fine since.

Just as a note, if you find yourself in that situation where the drive won't go up, just disconnect the rams by pulling the "E" clips. Manually pull up the drive, tie everything up and you'll be able to fix it when you get home.

 

[achris]

This thread is well worth a read...

Merc trim solenoid - potential hack for longer life?

Thoughts welcome.... I took apart my old trim solenoids because I tested them and was getting very high resistance across the main terminals. I ordered new ones so I figured I'd investigate what the inside looked like... they are surprisingly repairable... in fact, I posted a video on my...

forums.iboats.com

Chris.

 

[jth877]

You can also make an emergency trim switch by bypassing the solenoids and throttle switches by connecting a 12ga 3 conductor cord to the up/down/ground terminal on the trim pump and wire at least a 20amp spdt momentary switch to the other end. This can also be thrown over the side when performing outdrive maintenance on dry land.

 

[tank1949]

This thread is well with a read...

Merc trim solenoid - potential hack for longer life?

Thoughts welcome.... I took apart my old trim solenoids because I tested them and was getting very high resistance across the main terminals. I ordered new ones so I figured I'd investigate what the inside looked like... they are surprisingly repairable... in fact, I posted a video on my...

forums.iboats.com

Chris.

Having a saltwater MC boat that got very wet with sea spray, that always managed to drip down onto my trim "noids" and ruin them, I gambled by covering them with a piece of vinyl and never lost another one. A lesson for me...

 

[achris]

Having a saltwater MC boat that got very wet with sea spray, that always managed to drip down onto my trim "noids" and ruin them, I gambled by covering them with a piece of vinyl and never lost another one. A lesson for me...

It wouldn't have needed to be 'seawater', any water will do a number on anything electrical...

Chris....

 

[achris]

You can also make an emergency trim switch by bypassing the solenoids and throttle switches by connecting a 12ga 3 conductor cord to the up/down/ground terminal on the trim pump and wire at least a 20amp spdt momentary switch to the other end. This can also be thrown over the side when performing outdrive maintenance on dry land.

You mean like the one I installed, and is in that thread?

 

[jth877]

You mean like the one I installed, and is in that thread?

View attachment 351133

Pretty much. I got the idea a from a YouTube video from "madprops". Although he installed a switch on the transom. I didn't want to put a hole in the back of my boat and wanted to be able to use it while at the helm so I put the switch in an enclosure at the end if 10ft cord.

 

[achris]

That transom switch is a Merc accessory. It's called (believe it or not!) a 'transom mounted trim switch'. It comes with the swicth and a harness that piggy-backs to the trim harness that runs up to the instrument panel.... I have one (and can't imagine ever having a boat without one), and when I had my boat shop I encouraged all my customers to have one. When I sold a new Mercruiser I told the customers that if they wanted one and bought it at the time, I'd do the installation for free (takes about 15 minutes).... They all complained about them when they bought the boat back for the engine's first service.... "Why didn't you tell me about those switches a long time ago!??!" Everybody LOVED them. I even had one customer tell me he could tell which boats we serviced by that switch. He called our 'birth mark'....

(The switch on the side of my trim pump is direct to the pump motor, not through the solenoids, so if a solenoid dies, I can use that bypass switch)

 

[FingerLaker]

Just trolling through an old thread here: Does anyone know how to check the 11) fuse to see if its good..? (i.d., ohms resistance it should have, since its not visually accessible)? Im of course, also on step # 2, post cable cleaning, with a Tilt not going up or down, but sometimes clicking. Thanks in advance if anyone perchance sees this!

 

[FingerLaker]

That transom switch is a Merc accessory. It's called (believe it or not!) a 'transom mounted trim switch'. It comes with the swicth and a harness that piggy-backs to the trim harness that runs up to the instrument panel.... I have one (and can't imagine ever having a boat without one), and when I had my boat shop I encouraged all my customers to have one. When I sold a new Mercruiser I told the customers that if they wanted one and bought it at the time, I'd do the installation for free (takes about 15 minutes).... They all complained about them when they bought the boat back for the engine's first service.... "Why didn't you tell me about those switches a long time ago!??!" Everybody LOVED them. I even had one customer tell me he could tell which boats we serviced by that switch. He called our 'birth mark'....

(The switch on the side of my trim pump is direct to the pump motor, not through the solenoids, so if a solenoid dies, I can use that bypass switch)

View attachment 351135

Also, AChris, if you wouldn't mind: If I buy one of these switches that has the three pin harness as an interneving connection, it would still begoing through the Solenoids, right? So i can't use that as a troubleshooting/emergency bypass feed, I would guess? THanks again@