Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

[ChiefBoater]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker, just joined recently. Usually find everything I need without posting but not this time.

85 Sea Sprite 185 Bow Rider
4.3L Mercruiser I/O
Alpha one Gen II sterndrive

I am hooking up my trim tabs (got new ones) others were destroyed and wiring was toast. Found the blue/purple pick ups, got the one side of the starboard side grounded but I have no other wire (brown/white) to hook the other end too.

Looking under the dash the Trim Gauge has a dark brown wire attached to a grounding stud that goes into the wiring harness.

The brown/white that is supposed to be the trim wire is un-cut from the harness to the front - making me think the gauge was never hooked up. Can I tap into the brown/white coming from the engine harness to get the signal? or am I just all screwed up?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure the history of the boat - just bought it so I'm not sure what the previous owner changed out.

Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

What are you trying to hook up, trim-tabs, or the trim-tilt on the drive? 2 completely different things.

That brown wire is connected to the trim/tilt sender on the starboard side of the gimbal ring. Nothing in the engine harness should be used for trim-tabs.

 

[ChiefBoater]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

Don,

Thanks for responding.

I'm hooking up the trim limit switches. The trim tabs work fine.

I'm trying to figure out where to tie in the other side of the starboard trim limit switch - one side goes to ground and the other to a Brown/White wire from engine harness and how that signal gets back/forth to trim indicator gauge.

 

[ChiefBoater]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

Don,

That's what I thought with the brown wire but there was no reaction - so either my gauge is dead (very likely) or the brown wire isn't on the sending pole.

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

The starboard side of the gimbal ring is a trim gauge sender, the port side is trim limit.
From the stbd. trim sender is one wire to ground the other wire to the brown/white wire that goes to the S terminal of the gauge.

 

[ChiefBoater]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

The Trim Sender wires may not have any color sleeve or if they do, one side will have a brown sleeve.
Most motor wire harnesses have a Brown Wire with a White Stripe.
This Brown/White wire leads up the dash and fastens to the Sender Terminal on the back side of the Trim Gauge.
The wires from the Trim Sender switch plug into this Brown/White wire and a ground.
Older engines have a small screw-style terminal block to which these wires would fasten using the little bullet-to-ring connector
pigtails that are included in the trim Switch Kit.
The Brown/White wire runs to the trim gauge while the second wire fastens to a ground terminal screw.

Above - this is what I am referring to - do I just splice into the brown/white to get the signal?

 

[ChiefBoater]

Re: Trim gauge wiring from Wiring Harness

Nevermind - i'm reading that most people don't even use the trim gauge - so I'm not even going to sweat it. Thanks for your help, Don.