Power Trim Problems

[Beam's Reach]

I need to wake this thread up....

I just went out to pull my Mac out of the driveway (had to get my Jeep out 'cause I sold it ) and my power tilt won't work from either switch. I have power everywhere else and when I turn the key very quickly, there is power at the motor as well. I've cleaned all battery and switch connections without result.

Can anyone help me with fuse locations or other things to look for on a Mariner 50? I have no manual know nothing about outboards.

[aya16]

Was the battery switch on at the time? did anything work that was 12 volt? I always check the simple stuff first.

[Beam's Reach]

Yeah, switch is on and I have lights, vhf, stereo, but no power to the tilt mechanism.

[James V]

My Merc has a manual lock in the up position. With this enguaged, it will not go down.

[kmclemore]

Do you hear any noise (the hyd. pump running) or nothing at all?

If you hear the pump but there's no movement, check that you don't have the 'kickstand' down, and if that's not it, check your hyd. oil level.

If no noise, check your ground to the motor.

[aya16]

Turn the key to the motor on see if it will crank, dont start it.
check the ground wire and hot wire to the motor in the cowling.
do you have one of those portable jump starters? hook that up direct to the starter hot and ground it try the trim.

Dont think its a fuse , you said it didnt work than it worked and now it doesnt work. sounds like a lose wire or weak battery. Even a weak battery
will make some noise at the pump.
Check for power going to the switch on the engine with a test light then with the switch in the up or down position check for power at the wires coming out of the switch with the light. If you have power in these areas then we can go from there.


On edit sorry diff. guy diff problem. If you have power to all above and its enough to turn the engine over then the tilt should work. If you follow the wires from the trim switch to the block there should be a round fuse holder like the ones that come with a after market radio you would install on a car. Inside that the fuse could be good but has corosion I think thats how you spell it. Same thing for you though get a test light and check power to all the wires that go to and past the switch and fuse holder.
you need to see if power is getting to the trim motor first. If it is then is it enough? then if thats good then try rapping lightly on the trim motor as you apply power lightly tap with hammer. keep us informed as you go we will brain storm this to a fix

[Beam's Reach]

I've followed the wires from the switch and checked all connections that are accessible but can't find a fuse. I found that big main fuse but it's fine and I think it's just for the starter anyway. I don't have a test light a and really don't have a clue what to test. I was really hoping to find a fuse as that's about the limit of my electrical knowledge.

I'm gonna leave it for now and try again tomorrow, but I suspect I'll be taking it to a marine shop. The other problem is the motor is stuck in the down position and I don't want to trailer it that way. The manual tilt release is plastic and it's already stripped.

[aya16]

you can get a test light at any auto parts store for a couple bucks it looks like screw driver with a point and has a wire and clip out the other end. what you do is clip the wire end to any ground on the engine and start to probe those wires you found to the trim. any connectors or the switch wires that have exposed fittings. The light will light up when the wire has power. Best place to start would be the switch itself if its not ( Hot) doesnt have power, then follow the wire to its attachment point and check along the way When you find power then you know the problem is somewhere between the switch and the power source. If you have power to the swithch you want to check the switch itself by pushing up on the switch and see if power is coming from that wire.

Believe me its easy once you buy the light you will figure it out.

youre basically doing what the other guys on a diff. thread are doing with another problem you eliminate as you go, If there is power to everything then the problem is somewhere else. My guess is a power problem because that would be the most common.


the switch wire should be going to a solanoid (Spelling not right) there you can check for power too. you may even be able to raise the engine from that point by giving one of the trim wires that come off it some power, a jumper wire from something hot (with power) on the engine. the two wires that come off the solanoid are hot when you push the switch. they also will go down to the motor that runs the trim pump.

[Richard O'Brien]

Beam. You ought to be able to raise the motor by hand. The tilt itself is fairly simple. There is a motor about 2" in diam. beside a hydraulic cylinder about the same size. The motor pumps oil into the cylinder to lift the motor with a rod about 5/8" diam in the middle of the cylinder. Follow Aya's directions, and if the motor still doesn't start, try shorting it with a wire connected to the positive post on your battery (red wire on the motor with the hood off). If the motor still doesn't start, it's mechanic time. If the motor whirrs, but doesn't lift try helping it manually. There is a large screw on the motor that you can loosen to help you lift the motor. Be careful because this screw holds a lot of pressure in the down position, and little in the up position, so barely loosen it till the pressure relieves a little, then lift and retighten.

[Night Sailor]

My Merc once had a similar problem. One day it went down fine. An hour later it wouldn't go up. Everything from cowl switch and throttle stalk switch worked fine. Undoing the big screw at the bottom of the hydrailic cylinder allowed me to raise the motor up high enough to travel, where I blocked it up with a two by four. I retightened the screw and took it to the dealer. He's seen this before and said. "Relay". Fifteen minutes and one new relay later it was good again. The relay was only $15. So, check the wiring going to the relay and if you have power, okay. Check the wire going from the relay to the electric motor that drives the hydraulic cylinder while you operate the switch. If there is no power there, it's most probable the relay is bad or improperly grounded.

[craiglaforce]

On mine, I think corrosion gets under the solenoid contacts. If mine has been sitting for a while, I have to work the tilt switch a few times. You can hear the solenoid hitting, but no tilt until it finally clears the contacts.

[Beam's Reach]

OK, I've got the continuity tester and I'll have a go this afternoon. A little nervous about sticking this thing in to a bunch of wires, but then I guess it's only 12 Volts.

The Admiral keeps asking how it's going and I tell her that my team of experts is working on it! Thanks for all your suggestions and I'll keep you posted.

[Frank C]

... The Admiral keeps asking how it's going and I tell her that my team of experts is working on it!

[Beam's Reach]

Well it looks like I've reached the end of my limited electrical troubleshooting skills. (Skills )

I built my own house a few years back and did all the electrical myself...but this 12V DC stuff has me stumped. At least with AC, you've really only got two colours and they're pretty easy to trace. I've blown the bulbs on 2 continuity testers (don't ask me how, 'cause I really don't know) and I'm not any further ahead.

I found the two wires coming up from the trim pump, but can't identity the trim motor and I don't know what a relay is or looks like...I might as well be attempting heart surgery...I've got a pretty good idea what the heart does, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how it does it or even identify most of the parts.

I think I need to find a new friend that can spend a couple of hours in my driveway walking me through open outboard surgery.

And can anyone explain why the manual tilt release, that you are supposed to turn with a screwdriver...would be plastic? It was pretty stripped before I tried....now it's useless.

Thanks for all your help, but I think I'm in over my head.

[aya16]

I was hopeing to hear you fixed it. The two wires to the trim pump motor are hot not ground so if you are getting power to those as you hold the switch and still nothing you have another problem (stuck motor maybe)
you want to check those wires one at a time not together. those wires are
going to go up to your main motor and attach to the sylnoid or relay thats what you want to check for power.