Prop will not trim up after winterization

C

champdds

Member
Aug 17, 2008
77
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Boat Info
2006 240 Sundeck
Engines
Mercruiser 350 w Bravo III
Once again I am back, as this forum is amazingly helpful:

I have the service department at our dry storage marina do the winterization for me (Oil change/fogging, etc.)and just like in years past, I 'dewinterize' it in the Spring. That being said, the boat was placed on the rack as usual and I noticed that the prop was in the completely lowered position, which is unusual, as we store it in the fully upright/trailer position (and that is how I left it at the end of the season last Fall).

After reconnecting the battery, I attempted to raise the prop at the console- Nothing...I then went to the stern controller- again nothing. It did seem to make a little noise when I pushed DOWN control, but nothing when the UP control was pressed. I have left a message with the service department to ask what may be going on, but thought I would inquire here to get some information..

I have not put the boat in the water yet so I have not attempted to start the engine, so could the 3 year old battery just not have enough juice to operate the trim mechanism? I did purge the water system and the water pump worked fine running off of the battery..

Thanks

David
 
Sounds like dead batteries to me. Charge batteries and let us know.
 
Could be a bad solenoid on the up side of the system. If you are mechanical/electrical handy, you can try jumping the solenoid and see if the trim motor operates. As said, Obviously make sure the batteries have a full charge first.
 
the boat was placed on the rack as usual and I noticed that the prop was in the completely lowered position, which is unusual

No, when its for long term storage the drive must be in the down position.

After reconnecting the battery, I attempted to raise the prop at the console

Do you mean you took it home for the winter and charged it or just reconnected it in the spring after leaving it in the boat?
 
Before we go into to much detail, will you be doing any of the electrical/mechanical work yourself?

I agree that the drive should always be stored in the down position whenever possible.

3 year old batteries "should" be OK, if they've been properly looked after. But definitely charge them up and then retry moving the drive. The drive takes a lot of juice (amps) to move - more than a simple little water pump.

"Noises"... what type? Clicking? Trim pump motor? Depending on what type of noise is heard, determines which direction to head.

All in all, what you're describing is typically a simple thing to diagnose (in person, that is!) and fix.
 
Have you tried the trailer trim up adjustment vs the throttle trim up adjustment? Other basics? Do the engines start and turn over ? Areven the shifters back in neutral or.perhaps stuck.between positions?
 
Thanks everyone- I suspect the low battery is the culprit, but won't know until I crank the engine for the first time when she is in the water...was just making sure there was not the possibility of something more sinister awaiting me...I have done no charging to the battery this season, only draw on it was the small water pump...so hopefully, with a boost, the prop will be going up...That being said, thanks for the information about the storage of the unit during the winter in the low position..I will ask them if they lower them or leave them in the trailer position during the winter...I was under the impression from what I have seen after each winter, that they keep them raised..

Dav
 
I did run into this once with my 17' searay - ground was.not.tight enough on battery for trim motor feed to work fyi. Just check.your connections bound to be something obvious
 
Well, finally got the boat in the water yesterday, and the prop is indeed stuck in the lower position...pushing the 'raise' buttons at the stern and cockpit makes no sound at all...pushing the 'lower' buttons makes an odd mechanical sound (hard to describe)...and now I found out my marina no longer has any service available beyond simple oil changes/etc...ugh

David
 
Sounds like the most likely culprit will be the trim solenoid. Jump the solenoid at the pump to verify. Blue is up, green is down. The "odd" sound that you're hearing... does it sound like a motor trying to run, but is being restricted? If so, that's normal since the drive is at the lower limit and can't go any further, but the motor is still trying... no worries, it doesn't hurt anything.

Replace both solenoids while you're there - there all of about $20/$25 each. Relatively easy job, other than actually getting to the unit. If you're not comfortable with electrical work, hire someone - an hour, or so, of labor is much cheaper than having someone fix a mistake.

Lot's of info on the web and this forum about this, in case you wanted to search for some more detailed info.
 
Lazy Daze said:
Sounds like the most likely culprit will be the trim solenoid. Jump the solenoid at the pump to verify. Blue is up, green is down. The "odd" sound that you're hearing... does it sound like a motor trying to run, but is being restricted? If so, that's normal since the drive is at the lower limit and can't go any further, but the motor is still trying... no worries, it doesn't hurt anything.

Replace both solenoids while you're there - there all of about $20/$25 each. Relatively easy job, other than actually getting to the unit. If you're not comfortable with electrical work, hire someone - an hour, or so, of labor is much cheaper than having someone fix a mistake.

Lot's of info on the web and this forum about this, in case you wanted to search for some more detailed info.
Click to expand...

Thank you--I have been on youtube all morning...I will investigate the solenoids tomorrow...just got to locate them first on the boat...HAHAHA

David
 
UPDATE:
I put the boat on the rack today, and with it very quiet, I could here the "up" solenoid click when I pushed the button, but no pump noise, when I pushed down, I could here the 'down' solenoid click and the pump activate (but obviously, it can't go any further down....I then switched the two pump wire (blue and green) to the opposite solenoid, and viola, the down button now activated and the prop raised fine, but would not lower...switching them back has me back as it was...so, the pump and other mechanisms are fine, and it appears the "UP" solenoid is the culprit...so I disassembled the solenoid unit and will search for a replacement solenoid (actually 2, will just replace both, seems the smart thing to do)...

2 Questions:
1) any good source for these parts? Assume this is a special grade solenoid for marine applications?
2) I noticed that all exposed connections have a black waterproofing type coating, assume should do the same with the new connections...what is this stuff called?

David
 
Yes, the solenoid can "click", but not allow enough juice to flow through to activate the pump. And yes, always replace both since it usually isn't long till the other one goes. They're under $25 each for the Merc solenoids. A local dealer (doesn't have to be Sea Ray - just a Merc dealer) would likely have them in stock, but I'm sure you can find them online, as well.
 
Black Valkyrie said:
amazon sells them for about 8 bucks shipped prime when I last checked.
Click to expand...

That sounds almost too good to be true, you know? I could see maybe $15 or $20, but at $10 I would question whether they are truly Merc brand and/or ignition protected.
 
If you have SmartCraft check the voltage of the batteries. I had this happen to me just this week - same noises you were hearing. I switched to the other battery and it worked just as it should. Good battery - 12.5v bad battery - 8.8v. Not sure how it happened, but my tower speakers amp was on all night. I started the engine on the good battery and had 14.4v bad battery would never get to 14v with the engine running. I ended up buying a new battery.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Lazy Daze said:
That sounds almost too good to be true, you know? I could see maybe $15 or $20, but at $10 I would question whether they are truly Merc brand and/or ignition protected.
Click to expand...

you'd have to look for yourself. last I checked when we had our bow rider two seasons ago amazon had the real OEM parts and they cost next to nothing. Amazon is super aggressive on pricing on pretty.much everything. they consistently beat every retailer.
 
Lazy Daze said:
That sounds almost too good to be true, you know? I could see maybe $15 or $20, but at $10 I would question whether they are truly Merc brand and/or ignition protected.
Click to expand...

I found the Mercury parts on eBay for $16.90 each with free S/H.....(Amazon was a few bucks more)...#89-96158

Hopefully will install next weekend

Thank you all..

David
 
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