Trim indicator

[vrcrdavi]

My trim indicator on my Mercury SmartCraft has gone crazy. The summer it worked fine and then the indicator showed they were only raising to 6 vs 10 on the indicator. Now it does something different every time. Does anyone out there have any ideas? Also, what should be the settings in the SmartCraft system for the trim? I have a 2004 300 Sundancer with twin 5.0L B3 outdrives. Any help would be greatly appreciated.:huh:

 

[ZZ13]

Probably a bad position indicator sender on the outside of the drive. They go bad all the time. Position sender is on the port side of the drive, trim limit sender is on the starboard side of the drive.

 

[LADY G 290]

Wrong. It's the other way around.

 

[ZZ13]

Oops, you are right. Position sensor is on starboard side. Sometimes what I think and then type get crossed. Sorry about that that.

 

[highslice]

Second on the sender. Just had one go bad.

 

[jrseitz]

+1 on the trim sender. My indicator was going all over the place and bouncing up and down. But wasn't anything that $698.18 couldn't fix at a very reputable Sea Ray dealer in Michigan City. I had the repair completed when the boat was in winter storage there. I don't know if I paid too much or got a good deal. But I do know that if I tried to fix it myself, assuming I could even find it, the results would have probably cost me twice as much after I broke something else in the process.

 

[Jeepguy]

My trim jumps all over the place. I took it to the Sea Ray dealer- Their "fix" was to turn off the display pop up. I took it to another authorized Merc dealer, but they couldn't find anything wrong. I emailed Mercury and this is what they said

The sender could be faulty for one. You could also be sending a faulty reading because the grounding straps that should be installed throughout your drive system all the way to engine then to battery ground, are not making proper continuity. The ground may be seeking alternative methods in seeking ground and finding it's source through the sender. These "Continuity Straps" should be looked at. Attached is a pdf on these straps.



It is also possible the drive is actually moving too much. Check to make sure the "Celery Stick" is positioned in the rear trim cylinder bolts and that these forward and rear cylinder bolts are tight. Have a dealer see how much movement is in these cylinder mounts. Try to tighten these cylinder bolts. Looking at the thread count of these bolts, if two threads are showing, bring the clamp load slightly tighter and tighten thread to show four threads.

If everything is in place and proven to be tight, the only item left is to change out the trim sender. This is not a common complaint so something my be overlooked on your drive system.

We hope this information is helpful. Should you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our office at 920-929-5040 between the hours of 7:30am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday, Central Standard Time.