Trim issue

Sean195

Member
Jun 29, 2019
59
Boat Info
1995 Sea Ray 195 Sport
Engines
4.3L
I have a 1995 sea ray 195 sport that I recently purchased this year. When I purchased it, the previous owner had wired a button below the throttle control that puts the trim on the up position. The trim down is the only trim feature that works on the throttle control (trim up and trailer position do not function). I traced the wiring and it looks like they wired that new button directly to the trim ‘up’ solenoid on the trim motor (blue/white wire).

The previous owner also told me they installed new trim sender/limit switches, but had just not connected them yet.

With a little fiddling around, I was able to wire the trim enough to hear clicking when I toggle trim ‘up’ on the throttle control, but nothing happens. I ended up wiring the trim limit wires to the trim motor (blue/white) and the purple/white wire in the engine compartment.

I wired the trim sender to the brown/white wire and a black ground inside the engine compartment, but I was not able to see any adjustment on the trim gauge in the dash when I tried adjusting the puck itself.

Also, it seems as though the gauge keeps showing that the trim is in the full ‘up’ position. Could this be causing the trim ‘up’ button on the throttle to not work since the boat thinks the trim is all the way up already ?

The wiring has clearly been tinkered with but I think I am close to solving this issue. I already replace the solenoid on the trim ‘up’ at the trim motor and had the same results. It seems as though the trim motor is working fine since that button that the previous owner installed goes directly to the trim motor and operates fine.

Any idea what to tackle next ?

Thanks in advance!
 
There is no adjustment on trim gauge. Adjustment is done by moving trim sender. Loosen up screws and move it until you have correct reading
 
I did that. The dash gauge did not move when I adjusted the sender.
 
I did that. The dash gauge did not move when I adjusted the sender.
The the trim sender is either not working or not connected correctly.
To adjust:
Trim drive all the way down.
Loosen the two screws and remove the sender (puck).
Align the marks on the back of the sender (mark on the shaft that rotates with a mark on the back side of the sender housing)
Re-install the sender
Rotate the sender until the gauge reads down.

If the two index marks were way off, the sender would be out of range and not making contact. All it is, is a rheostat.
 
Trying to resurrect this thread, as the weather is getting warmer and the snow will start melting soon where i live. I do not have the boat at my residence currently, but i did try everything mentioned before i put it away for the winter, but to no avail.
Anything else i can try? Hate to have to bring it somewhere to have fixed, but if anybody has any reputable shops in the NY/VT/NH area, i would be willing to give them a shot at it.

Is there a chance that my sender/limit are toast? The seller i bought it from last year said they were new, they just had not been wired up yet, but i dont quite believe that.
 
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Trying to resurrect this thread, as the weather is getting warmer and the snow will start melting soon where i live. I do not have the boat at my residence currently, but i did try everything mentioned before i put it away for the winter, but to no avail.
Anything else i can try? Hate to have to bring it somewhere to have fixed, but if anybody has any reputable shops in the NY/VT/NH area, i would be willing to give them a shot at it.

Is there a chance that my sender/limit are toast? The seller i bought it from last year said they were new, they just had not been wired up yet, but i dont quite believe that.

Check if sender is disconnected in the bilge or behind gauge. Another possibility is broken sender wire or whomever installed it took shortcut and instead running new wires to bilge, spliced them to old ones (that usually works only for short time).
 
The wires for the sender/limit are new and go directly from the units into the bilge. They were not connected to anything when I purchased the boat though, which makes me wonder why. I was able to figure out enough to wire the sender/limit up to the trim pump, but just get clicks when I try. I also replaced the solenoid on the pump
 
The wires for the sender/limit are new and go directly from the units into the bilge. They were not connected to anything when I purchased the boat though, which makes me wonder why. I was able to figure out enough to wire the sender/limit up to the trim pump, but just get clicks when I try. I also replaced the solenoid on the pump

Look at this wiring diagram: https://www.google.com/search?q=mer...8KHXRJCysQ9QEwAHoECAkQHA#imgrc=BTebxC0H43NRhM

The trim sender needs to be connected correctly - there are two wires inside the boat with bullet connectors - The trim limit is just a rheostat, as long as the rheostat is closed, completing the circuit the trim runs "up" when the rheostat hits the end of the copper strip it opens the circuit and the trim stops, that is the upper limit. Whatever was done by the previous owner to jerry rig it is leaving the trim limit circuit open - The black/blue wires run from the trim switch on the throttle to the trim pump with the limit switch in that circuit.
 
Where do the two plugs with bullet connectors for the sender originate ?
 
There is a plug that is basically the wiring harness that plugs into the pump assembly. Wires from the throttle and the trim limit switch all go into that plug/. Should be able to trace them from there.
 
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Okay. This will be a lot easier to sort through once I have the boat back from storage. Thanks for the input. From my memory, it was difficult to locate the 4 wires that the sender/limit units needed to plug into inside the engine compartment, which may be why they were never connected when installed.
I guess I’m still a little curious on where the sender wires come from that I need to plug the sending unit into. The wiring diagram outlines where the limit wiring goes/comes from, but not so much with the sender.

looks like one of the sender wires go to the brown/white wire(gauge) and one goes to ground ?
And then the limit goes to purple wire from throttle and blue/white wire that leads to trim pump?

sorry- new boat owner!
 
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Sorry - I said trim sender when I meant trim limit switch. The trim sender connects to the trim gauge - no connection at all to the trim pump.
 
All my trim sender / limit sender wires on my two boats are laying on the intake manifold behind the carb/throttle body in that wiring harness
 
I am using a wiring diagram but like I said before, the previous owner messed with the wiring quite a bit, so some things are harder to find than others.
If the wiring was obvious, I would assume the previous owner would just plug everything in, but the fact that they wired up a switch straight to the trim ‘up’ on the trim pump makes me think there’s a deeper issue than just plugging in the sender/limit
 
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Have you bypassed the solenoids on the trim pump to verify you done't have a bad solenoid? The "click" sounds like the solenoid not working. To test this take a jumper wire and test with 12v straight to the blue and green on the pump (bypassing the solenoid). Blue should go UP, green should go DOWN. The wiring for this thing is really pretty simple:

As far as the trim gauge, again it's a simple rheostat, the resistance as you move the drive up/down changes the position of the gauge. If it is not moving at all you have a loose connection - check the back of the gauge - You should see an "I" (Ignition), "G" (Ground) and "S" (Sender) make sure these are all tight - with the key on jump the G to the S and the gauge should go all the way down. Now you know the gauge works, so trace the wires back and connect them to the leads from your sender.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mer...ECA0QBQ&biw=1600&bih=757#imgrc=MldpQOOIy_lyZM
 
Got it. Yes, I tested to solenoids and they are functioning correctly
 
Got it. Yes, I tested to solenoids and they are functioning correctly

Yes, but you said when you press the "up" on the throttle it just clicks, that sounds like the solenoid is not working, have you checked the pump side of the solenoid with someone holding the UP button to seen if you are getting 12v to the blue wire on the pump?
 
I have not, but I will try that! I actually replaced the solenoid to rule it out, and it did the same thing. I suppose there’s a chance the slightly used one I replaced it with is defective also.
 
Most likely, the reason they did some some jerry rigging is because they (at least initially) didn't want to mess with changing the failed limit switch.

As Bill said, the clicking that you hear is most commonly indicative of a failed solenoid. There are times, however, when you can get a false positive - so just keep that in mind. Meaning, you can get 12V on the load side of the solenoid, yet there isn't enough amperage coming through to activate the motor. Swapping the up/down solenoids is quick and easy - and definitive.

Also make sure all connections (including the wires at the connectors) are clean and tight.
 
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