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1999 115 Johnson Trim/Tilt working Intermittently

F

falgranado

New member
Good morning!
I am currently having issues with my tilt and trim. As the title says , when pressing down/up on the trim/tilt , sometimes works or sometimes it does not, leaving me to pull/push the engine up and down for maintenance and repairs.

A couple of things that I have noted:
  • The relays for up and down are both "clicking".
  • Disconnected side trim/tilt buttons and pressed remote tilt/trim buttons but to no avail
  • Disconnected remote trim/tilt buttons and reconnected side trim/tilt buttons but with no success.
What else can I troubleshoot to point me in the right direction?

Regards
 
What I would do------Find and separate the plug on the wires that go to the tilt motor.------Put 12 volts positive to blue and negative to green.----Motor should go up.----Reverse the wires for down.-----Repeat 10 / 15 times.----If motor operates without fail it is good.----Note,---give trim motor some cooldown time after 2 / 3 cycles.
 
I will add that just because a relay 'clicks' does NOT mean it's contact will pass adequate current to allow a motor to run....
 
racerone said:
What I would do------Find and separate the plug on the wires that go to the tilt motor.------Put 12 volts positive to blue and negative to green.----Motor should go up.----Reverse the wires for down.-----Repeat 10 / 15 times.----If motor operates without fail it is good.----Note,---give trim motor some cooldown time after 2 / 3 cycles.
Click to expand...
I think I just found the issue. It seems that the cables on the motor are open and expose, possibly creating a short. I will remove the trim/tilt unit to confirm.
 
Hello again!

I just rebuilt the trim motor and its working perfectly fine connected directly to the battery, however when connecting to the Trim/tilt system, it doesnt activate.

Im considering @makomark possibility of the relays. How can I test if the relay is working? I have a DMM on hand.

Regards!
 
falgranado said:
Hello again!

I just rebuilt the trim motor and its working perfectly fine connected directly to the battery, however when connecting to the Trim/tilt system, it doesnt activate.

Im considering @makomark possibility of the relays. How can I test if the relay is working? I have a DMM on hand.

Regards!
Click to expand...
I did a quick resistance test and both of them are between 77.2 ohms.
 
Good Morning!

Yesterday I was able to mount the trim/tilt unit back on and noticed that it wont raise when having load, I checked the fluid level and added more fluid (note : the fluid was milky/pink). What can I check next, I am a little lost. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards
racerone said:
What I would do------Find and separate the plug on the wires that go to the tilt motor.------Put 12 volts positive to blue and negative to green.----Motor should go up.----Reverse the wires for down.-----Repeat 10 / 15 times.----If motor operates without fail it is good.----Note,---give trim motor some cooldown time after 2 / 3 cycles.
Click to expand...
 
FWIW, I don't think a DVM or DMM is your best tool to use in your situation...I would use a test light with an incandescent bulb (which will draw at least a full amp of current). put the test light in the circuit in the place of the trim motor and see if it lights up using all the control buttons in both positions.

Giving a resistance measurement without clearly stating the measurement points doesn't help us that are not there...something like "I measured the resistance between Terminals A and B of the XXX switch in the UP and DOWN positions and saw yyy and zzz ohms" gives a decent picture.
 
Let me add that when the trim relays are relaxed (as in NO trim switch is activated), both sides of the motor are connected to ground thru contacts in each relay.

When operating either trim switch "up", the upper relay will activate, opening the ground contacts & closing the positive contacts. Motor should go up.

Operating "down", the lower relay activates.... essentially the reverse of the above paragraph.

If trim operates in one direction but not the other, trim motor is good. Up vs Down is by reversing the current flow but keep in mind ground is thru the relaxed relay, not the motor frame to ground.

Relays typically fail because of corrosion/arcing causing high resistance. So you will normally feel & hear the relay close & incorrectly believe it to be good. Either set or both sets of contacts within a single relay can be bad. After 25 years, replace both.
 
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