Trim not working 1989 sunbird

[jacob.twisdale]

I own a 1989 sunbird corsica 195 with a 4.3l OMC Cobra Sterndrive. I was out in the middle of the lake and my trim stopped working all of a sudden. I put a meter on the trim switch on the throttle handle and the switch is good. There isnt a wiring issue at all. I was thinking that it was the trim pump motor. Im hoping someone can tell me otherwise or lead me to another possibility of the issue before I fork out the money for a new trim pump motor. Could it be a fuse? And if so, where would I find the fuse panel? I've only had the boat for about 2 weeks.

 

[palace]

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Welcome aboard,
Selonoids on the starboard side of the engine should have green/white (grass) for down and blue/white (sky) for up. If you short out these and the drive works it is a selonoid. Try unplug the wires from the controls and try shorting from here or just check continuity to make sure wires are good. Very common also for the wires to get spliced in the center pivot of the control. Should look for OMC service manual on Ebay, if you plan on doing the work yourself. Do not get a clymer or Seloc manual.

 

[hilgeman]

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

When you say ther isn't a wiring issue, does that mean you looked at it. I had the same thing happen to me when we were tubing and what it ended up being was the inline connector plug came undone. Follow the wires that are down by the tilt pump up to the top of the motor, sorta behind the carburator and there will be a plug. Make sure it didn't come loose.

 

[muskyfins]

Re: Trim not working 1989 sunbird

I had the same problem. First you need to make sure you have power all the way to the solenoid on the pump motor. In your garage, push the trim button. If the solenoid clicks, you know its not wiring from/to the switch. If there's no clicking, you'll need to determine if you have power to the solenoid by troubleshooting with a test light. If the solenoid is clicking, (its unconventional), but you can use a small jumper wire direct to the motor and dtermine if the motor runs. If it does, you might have a bad solenoid (less likely). If the pump does not run, you likely have a bad motor. If this is the case, (very unconventional again) use the hadle of a screwdriver and give the motor a few sharp taps. You may have a dead spot on the motor and sometimes this will get you out of a jam, but you'll ultimately need to replace the motor.

(note-I am not a professional marine mechanic. I'm a knucklehead who figures things out the hard way. My advice is simply a recycling of my past problems and is probably worth what you paid for it.)

Good luck and let us know what you came up with.

 

[jacob.twisdale]

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Ok cool ill try that

 

[jacob.twisdale]

Re: Trim not working 1989 sunbird

I had the same problem. First you need to make sure you have power all the way to the solenoid on the pump motor. In your garage, push the trim button. If the solenoid clicks, you know its not wiring from/to the switch. If there's no clicking, you'll need to determine if you have power to the solenoid by troubleshooting with a test light. If the solenoid is clicking, (its unconventional), but you can use a small jumper wire direct to the motor and dtermine if the motor runs. If it does, you might have a bad solenoid (less likely). If the pump does not run, you likely have a bad motor. If this is the case, (very unconventional again) use the hadle of a screwdriver and give the motor a few sharp taps. You may have a dead spot on the motor and sometimes this will get you out of a jam, but you'll ultimately need to replace the motor.

(note-I am not a professional marine mechanic. I'm a knucklehead who figures things out the hard way. My advice is simply a recycling of my past problems and is probably worth what you paid for it.)

Good luck and let us know what you came up with.

I put a meter on the control switch and tested it and the switch is good on the controls. I cut the wires from the switch on the control handle and touched them together but nothing happened. No click or noise whatsoever. i had about 3 foot of excess wire behind the controls so I cut about a foot off and pulled the wires through because the wires were exposed due to wear of the insulation right at the bottom of the controls. I removed the bad wiring and pulled the good wire through and shorted them to test it but still no luck. SO does that mean that it is the trim pump motor? Or is it the solenoid?

 

[Don S]

Re: Trim not working 1989 sunbird

I merged your two threads together, please don't post duplicate threads in multiple forums.

 

[jacob.twisdale]

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

Re: 1989 4.3L OMC Sterndrive trim not working

When you say ther isn't a wiring issue, does that mean you looked at it. I had the same thing happen to me when we were tubing and what it ended up being was the inline connector plug came undone. Follow the wires that are down by the tilt pump up to the top of the motor, sorta behind the carburator and there will be a plug. Make sure it didn't come loose.

Hilgeman,

YOU were correct. There was an inline plug above the engine (beside the shift assembly) that came unplugged. I plugged it back and ABRACADABRA!!!!!!! Trim now works. You're a LIFE (money) SAVER!!!!!!!


Thanks for all the help and tips everyone! YOU guys are awesome!