Trim Gauge

[MelodyBay]

Hello fellow boaters....

This past weekend my trim gauge began acting up on me. When the trim is fully down the gauge reads down but as soon as I press up slightly on the trim button the gauge indicator moves to full up but the trim hasn't even reached a quarter up yet. There is nothing wrong with my trim as it does move up and down without any problems. However, the gauge is going haywire on me.

Has anyone ever experienced this before? Is there anything that I can do to repair this or do I have to bring in it for service? The boat is still under warranty so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks!

 

[mccownk]

Re: Trim Gauge

99% of the time that indicates a problem with the sending unit on the outdrive and not the guage. This is a very common problem. If the boat is under warranty, you are better off having it serviced. After the warranty expires, you can test and fix it yourself, or just operate without the guage. There is a third option but you would have to have the 4.3 or 5.0 MPI motor. It involves a digital tilt sending unit and digital guage.

 

[MelodyBay]

Re: Trim Gauge

The boat is still under warranty but it's always a pain to bring it in. In this case I have no choice though. Since this is a common problem do a lot of people just run the boat without the gauge? I'm sure they are not completely accurate.

I'm running a Merc 4.3 220hp Alpha One.

Cheers.

 

[mccownk]

Re: Trim Gauge

The problem is in the location of the trim sending unit. It is located at the pivot point on the outdrive and is submerged while the boat is operating. This location causes the sending units to corrode and you start to get intermittant or degraded signals from the sending unit. The position of the trim increases or decreases the voltage to the guage. I have installed a Mercury Smartcraft Systems Monitor on my Tahoe and will be replacing the standard sending unit with a digital sending unit. these digital guages can be installed on your 4.3L MPI (multi port injection) as well. In the mean time I just adjust the trim by ear. When you lower the unit and it reaches the full down position it will make a different noise when it bottoms out. When the boat comes up on plane, I can then adjust the trim up and listen to the engine until it just starts to make the prop cavitate and then trim it down slightly. Other wise just leave it trimmed down while pulling a tube or skiers.
Hope this helps.

 

[cheetah90]

Re: Trim Gauge

Thats why you dont rely on that gauge pretend its not even there, you should always know the position of your drive. The guy that drug his drive up the launch ramp just this past Saturday said "The gauge said i was all the way up!"


my 2 pennies

 

[MelodyBay]

Re: Trim Gauge

Thanks mccownk, as always you are very helpful with your replies

I have always found that the gauge will indicate trim down but I do keep lowering the unit until I hear the different sound that you have indicated.

I'll probably hold off until the end of the boating season here in Canada to have the warranty work done on this.

 

[MelodyBay]

Re: Trim Gauge

Thats why you dont rely on that gauge pretend its not even there, you should always know the position of your drive. The guy that drug his drive up the launch ramp just this past Saturday said "The gauge said i was all the way up!"


my 2 pennies

I always know the position of my drive. That's not an issue.
I just prefer to have everything working properly. It's just the way I am.

 

[etransfer]

Re: Trim Gauge

I was having the same issue and took it to a local boat guy and he said it was a lose wire. I took the boat out last weekend and it worked perfectly.

 

[MelodyBay]

Re: Trim Gauge

I was having the same issue and took it to a local boat guy and he said it was a lose wire. I took the boat out last weekend and it worked perfectly.

Hmmmm....I have a guy who could look at it for me. Where was the wire located?