I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

[nobleprime]

Hello all,
I have a 1981 Evinrude 115hp and the motor will not tilt/trim down. The tilt motor kicks on when I push the up button (its in the highest position so it wont go anywhere) but it does nothing when I press the down button. Just silence. Any ideas on where to begin? Thanks alot.

 

[ftltony]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Sounds like a dirty contact on your trim switch.

I am assuming you have the switch in the handle of your throttle....???

 

[nobleprime]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Yes the button is on the top of my throttle (binnacle). The controls are pretty new so its weird that they may be on the frits. One thing to note......when I went to use the switch the first time around, the symptoms were backwards (could not trim up but could trim down). Then after some playing around with it, it went up and now will not go down for the life of me. If is is the contacts, how do I go about cleaning them or troubleshooting the situation? Thanks a lot for the help

 

[ftltony]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Sounds like a small bug living in your handle has moved from one contact to the other!!!

There are a couple ways to handle this, its all easy, simple and there is a total way around having this problem, but I'll get to that later...

If you can disassemble the handle and get to the switch, you can do a simple test. Look for the screws and after you disassermble the handle and have the switch in plain view, look at the bottom of the switch and there will be 3 wires going to the switch which are connected to contacts.

The wire in the center is the power. When you press the switch, power is sent to one or the other wires/contacts which in turn, raise or lower the motor.

As you are looking at the switch, take a short piece of wire and make contact with the center wire on the switch. Then touch either one of the other wires. Either the trim will go up or it will go down. I am betting it WILL go UP and DOWN and your culprit will be your switch.

Now you can do one of 3 things.

1. You can mess with the switch, you can try all kinds of cleaners and solutions to try to make the switch work again, and it probably will work again, but over time, you will have the same trouble.

2. You can buy a new switch assembly! Its the easiest way to fix the whole problem! But that damn little switch ain't cheap so you will rethink cleaning the old switch!!! ... but you will be happier with the new switch!

3. On my boat, on my switch panel, I mounted a "momentary" rocker switch ($5 bucks at Home Depot!) and soldered the wires to it. I CANNOT STAND the dinky little switch they put in the throttle and since I am always throttling with my right hand, the momentary rocker switch was mounted on the left side of my steering wheel and made trimming and tilting a breeze! If you do it, you'll love it!

... And I have to tell you that I had the EXACT same problems you are having with every boat I have ever owned except for my 12 foot aluminum boat that had a 9.9 tiller on the back! Oh for life to be that simple again!!!

As for your problem, to fix it right now, check it first, then decide if you are going to clean the switch or buy a new one.

Let me know how things go!

 

[nobleprime]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Hey tony thanks for the help and the reassurance. I will let you know how it goes. I might not be able to get to it until tomorrow but I do appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. Thanks again.

 

[ftltony]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Hey tony thanks for the help and the reassurance. I will let you know how it goes. I might not be able to get to it until tomorrow but I do appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. Thanks again.

No problem, I'm at work so I have plenty of time on my hands...!!!...

 

[HighTrim]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

What 'playing around' were you doing that caused the sypmtoms to reverse themselves?

What colour wires are coming off the top of the trim motor?

 

[nobleprime]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

The "playing around" I was talking about was just pressing on the trim button a thousand times!! What happened was that I was looking to lower the engine in order to diagnose another problem I am having. When I went to do so nothing happened. Then after pressing the tilt down button several times it went down about an inch and stopped, but the trim motor was still running. I went to the back of the boat to see what was the matter and of course, stupid me, left the safety stopper in place so the engine couldnt go down. At that point, I went to go raise the engine and it wouldn't go up. Again, after several attempts in pressing the trim button, the engine lifted back up. So, I went and moved the safety and then proceeded to try to trim it down once again and it wouldn't go down (moreover, the several attempt method that worked before will not work this time around). However, at this time, the up trim continues to work perfectly (the engine is raised all the way but the trim motor will kick on when I hit the button). So, the end all of everything currently is that I have tilt up but no trim down. (it is worth it to mention that nothing happens at all when I try to trim down.........no sounds or anything)

As for your other question, the wires that I have coming out of my trim motor are black (two cables wrapped together).

A side note is that I checked the trim solenoids to make sure everything was still connected correctly and tightly and it all seemed good.

Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post.

 

[jonesg]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

is it possible to swap the 2 solenoids

 

[HighTrim]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

is it possible to swap the 2 solenoids

Yes it is, in fact, that is where I would start. Pretty easy to check.

 

[nobleprime]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

Oh okay I will give that a shot. Should I just switch the two wires coming from the engine and entering the soleniods or do I have to change all the wires to be in the reverse order.

 

[woody66912]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

swap blue for green are these post type or 5 pin realys.

 

[nobleprime]

Re: I've searched ...... Can't find info on my trim problem

I'm not really sure which ones I have. They look like this though: