Still Having Trouble With Motor Going Up And Down

[skeeter1980]

A few months back I posted that my 1980 merc,would not go up or down.After a few suggestions from on here,my friend rebuilt both cylinders.It worked in the driveway,but when I got on the lake,motor wouldn't move.This month my friend took the pump apart,it was full of gunk.So he cleaned it and it worked fine.While sitting in the driveway,i'd try the pump,every few days.The motor went up and down fine.This past Friday,I went fishing,and tried the motor before I left.Worked fine,got on the water,and motor wouldn' t move.Now from my house to the lake about 15 miles,what the heck,could have happened?

[Fishing Rhino]

Since the pump was removed, I'm assuming that the wiring had to be disconnected.  Check and recheck every wire that was disconnected to remove the pump.  Make sure the wiring at the terminals is sound.

 

A poor connection, usually, but not necessarily in the ground, somewhere in the wiring, or a poor switch.  How many tilt switches do you have?  It's usually three, one on the motor, one on the throttle/shift control and one at the bow.  If none of those will activate the pump, you can rule out the switches as being the problem.

 

Make sure every connection in the wiring for the tilt is clean and tight.  It could also be a break in the wiring. 

 

It's a bit harder to trouble shoot the tilt mechanism because the pump motor turns in both directions so it has to switch the polarity to the motor when going from up to down, and vice versa.

[skeeter1980]

I have 3 switches,but only one works.Whoever had the boat before,gutted the wires,so only one switch on the console wiil move the motor.

[WRB]

The Merc engine ( electric motors, combustion engine) should have a manual switch on the drivers side of the engine power head so you can operate the trim up/down to install a transom saver. The remote switch(s) are usually located on the engine gear shift /excellerator lever to trim the engine while operating the boat from the drivers seat and from the trolling motor power panel, optional.

You should go online and get a manual for your engine.

Tom

[MattStrykul]

Will it move one direction and not the other? I had the same problem with my 92' Johnson and it was the solenoid that was bad. It would go in and out and work sometimes, and not others. Finally it went bad and had to change it out and it has not given me any problems since. It's worth checking out....

[Ski213]

As rhino said I'd probably go through all the wiring, including checking switches, all wiring, connections, etc. Often with a custom wiring job problems arise. As Tom said, it's always a good idea to have a repair manual.

A couple unprofessional thoughts I might add. You said your buddy rebuilt the cylinders. Then later found crap in the pump. Did he flush all the fluid out? If not it's possible that some of that crap is floating around the system and intermittently blocking a passage. I guess the drive to the lake could jar more crap loose but it also could be that something electrical in nature is taking on water when the boat is in the lake. I'd check for that as well.

[LittleBob]

Our boat has an '89 Black Max 175 which is a little newer but maybe my problem will help a little. The power trim started acting up while on a fishing trip so I couldn't do much about it then but once we got back I got the boat out to the shop and started troubleshooting the wiring. Our problem ended up being the switch in the throttle control, we could only trim down, however it would let us trim up once in a while. All the other switches (at the motor and and the front of the boat) worked fine. I just need to find a switch or throttle control with the switch in it now.

Just a thought to next time it isn't working with the switch you could always bypass the solenoid momentarily with a short piece of wire just to see if it will work that way, if it does your problem is likely electrical. And not with the pump side of the system.