Re: 1988 omc outdrive won't go down
There should be an "up" and a "down" solinoid attached to the throttle control bracket on the starboard side of the engine. The bracket attaches to the intake manifold bolts near the rear of the starboard side. There is also a 50AMP fuse inline with each sloinoid. Power for the trim comes up from the starter connection and splits to each solinoid. when you press the up or down button on the control you should hear a click sound coming from the solinoid. If not, the power connection to the control may be corroded some where. If there is a clicking soung, the problem may be in the harness running from the solinoids to the trim motor. I had a 1988 Bayliner with the OMC Cobra 5.0 for 22 years and I had a lot of issues with the 3 pin connector between the solinoids and the trim motor. Seems the connector was not well sealed and the ground connection was too light for the amount of current. The contacts actuall melted into the connector housing. With a volt meter and a half an hour of tracing I am sure you can find where the power is being interrupted. It is not likely the trim motor if you get the trim to go up. On the other hand, if the sound you hear is the trim motor running with the down button pressed, you may have hydralic issues.
