Outdrive tilt not working

carver 2557

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May 25, 2003
RO Number
11591
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Well it did work until I got down in the engine compartment to winterize.. The trailer switch work's fine. The down switch work's most of the time, The up switch is dead. I'm thinking I have bumped a wire or something in the engine compartment as it worked 10 minutes before I squeezed myself in the engine compartment. Anyone have any ideas where to start looking, or have a wiring diagram for this . Sometimes the down switch just clicks, but seems to work most times..
 
A picture of the unit might help?..

Picture176.jpg
 
MerCruiser, right? What Year? It looks like the one in our 1996 SR. Of three switches, Up, Down, Trail, only UP works through the Outdrive Limit Switch. That's one of the two wired "pucks" on your outdrive. The other is Trim Angle Indicator Sender. I bypassed the Limit wiring when our Switch failed. It's since been replaced, but what I did was make a little jumper with bullet connectors matching the Sender's terminals and plugged it into the the connecting wiring on the trim unit. I believe the wires were brown, but I'm not positive and don't remember if there were tracer colors as well. If you disturbed a wire/connector, I'd think it'd be that one, since the trim setup is working in Up with the alternative Trail switch and Down is working normally.
But... Any chance your drive is already above the maximum Trim level, and Limit Switch is simply doing its job?
 
Yes it is a 1989 Mercruiser..Now I should be going DUH to myself...The OD was maxed out by the limit switch..It was doing it's job. When I had the boat put in the yard last Sat I didn't block it as high as I usually do and had to raise the OD. I was going to put a hole in the area under the OD so I could lower it down completely, but didn't do that yet..Simple cheap fix..thanks for the suggestion..Once again DUH to me...
 
Looks like terminals need cleaning. Disconnect batt first. Other options if cleaning doesn't work.
 
Terminals will get a full cleaning in the spring..as you suggest, they are due for one...
 
Check the fuse and the plug by the fuse. I've seen the plug pulled slightly where one direction will work and the other will not. You may have bumped it when you "squeezed" yourself in there.
 
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