Electrical Problems... I'm about to explode.

[Radical Conservative]

Alright guys..

I have an '87 Pro Craft 16.5 ft with an '87 135 Mariner. Everything on the boat has been flawless since we restored it until this week.

Earlier this week we encountered a tilt/trim problem. First of all, the tilt/trim unit is basically new. Installed by my very trusted mechanic.. The motor is brand new and the unit was taken from an '05 Merc. It is an awesome unit. But anyway, back to the story. Last week we were on the lake and the the motor wouldn't tilt down. It would trim up but if you clicked it down, you would just hear a clicking noise from the solenoid. I thought this was just a minor wiring problem because 10 minutes of unplugging relays and jiggling wires, it started working again. It was fine the rest of the week until this weekend. We were fishing a tournament and all the sudden when I went to take the motor down, it just clicked. It also just clicked when I tried to trim up. This time, jiggling and unplugging didn't solve the problem.

I took it home with the motor trimmed 30% up so it cleared everything and I did not release the valve. Today I had some time to troubleshoot and mainly just checked connections.. still just a clicking noise. On the boat, there are two places that work to trim the motor... the console on the bow and the shifter. When the tilt/trim started having trouble the bow console would not even click the motor and the shifter would. Then today, all of the suddon the shifter wouldn't even click the tilt. It did nothing. I randomly tried the bow and it would click it? Almost like one would get power when the other wouldn't?

Now for the big problem.. I wen't to start the motor today and turned the key.... NOTHING! I have NEVER had problems with the connections to the starter. It leads me to believe the wiring from the shifter has a problem maybe?

Sorry for the long post, but the tilt/trim problem was minor, and was planning on taking it to my mechanic after our tournament on Saturday, because the boat was still fishable and I could still get on plane. (Even though I know the tilt/trim fluid was under pressure with the motor trimmed the way it was). But now the motor won't turn on. I'm a fair mechanic when it comes to anything auto related but not when it comes to wiring. Anything I could try without having to take it to the shop? Taking it to the shop would forfeit the tourney on Saturday as it would be a week or two before I saw the boat again...

This is REALLY making me mad..

[Wayne P.]

On the trim/tilt, swap the two relays that "click" and see if the symptoms reverse (won't go up). If so replace both of them.

Is the battery completely charged and terminals clean and tight?

[Radical Conservative]

Battery is full and terminals are new. Tried swapping the relays but still the same thing. (right now the motor won't go up OR down. They both just click) I am wondering if the motor being 20 to 30% up is why it wont turn on but that doesn't explain why it worked all day on the lake with the tilt/trim not working?

[burleytog]

Check your battery connections.  That is the most logical  explanation.

[Wayne P.]

That sounds like bad news ( you may need to replace the brushes/and or rebuild the trim/tilt motor ). Good luck.

[fishfordollars]

just take you something like a screw driver and short across the post of the solenoid and that will tell you whether the motor is bad. also, if it runs up and down when you short across replace the solenoid switches and you should be good to go. Happened twice over the years with me. Took a couple of minutes to see which if any were bad. 

[Radical Conservative]

Well took it to my mechanic. After 10 or 15 minutes of testing wires we decided to check the fuse anyway. (this 50 fuse was fairly new and it no way looked blown) Took the fuse out, connected the power wires and BAM, worked like a charm. As for the motor problem, we dug around the starter to find the fuse and when we found it, we popped it out and it was very obviously blown. Popped a new one in and motor ran like a charm. Thank goodness it wasn't anything more serious. By the way, anyone in the Central Kentucky area.. Robbie Sargeant at Sargeant's Marine is the greatest guy I've ever met. He had me out and running in a half hour free of charge... 3 hours after closing time.