1995 Mercruiser 4.3; alpha one gen II; oildyne pump (2 solenoids)
Mechanical problem: outdrive not moving when pump motor is running
Electrical problem: controls are not starting pump motor
Mechanical problem: outdrive not moving when pump motor is running
Electrical problem: controls are not starting pump motor
- Tilt and trim pump bracket rusted out, so replaced it. Tilt was working last season.
- Accidentally bumped new bracket with red wire from battery when re-installing and it shorted out (…forgot to shut off power…).
- Drive is stuck in up position. Tested trim up and down and pump motor sounded normal and turned over but no movement of drive.
- Verified that the pump was pumping fluid out “up” port.
- After a number of times running the pump, the pump motor slowed down almost to a halt. The next day, tried again and only got a single solenoid click (both up and down) and motor didn’t turn over.
- Got hold of a “loaner” (pump B, which has had little use) and installed. The only difference from pump A was that the solenoid sounded like it was rapidly switching open and closed.
- I connected each pump directly to the battery and verified that both pumps are pumping fluid up and down. So, pumps seem to be fine.
- Suspect the mechanical issue might be a frozen ram?
- Electrical issue: not sure where to go from here to find out why the controls are not starting the pump motor? I cleaned all the terminals on the solenoids and tested and cleaned both the 20A and 110A fuses. Have done a number of tests for continuity and haven’t found any issues but of course, not fully knowing what I’m doing means I may have missed a few things!