tilt/trim...click

[thatoneguy]

took the kiddo out fishing for shallow panfish, everything worked great. come time to head in, I went to tilt the motor up to clean off the accumulated weeds and junk, and got a *click* when I pressed up on the button. Pressed down, *click.* Tried a few times, same result. Reached down to clean off the weeds, fired up the outboard and motored back to the harbor. Pulled up to the dock. presssed up on the tilt/trim again...and it worked like normal.

This is the second time it's done that. Any ideas what it might be?

[efgh]

Check the ground wire in that circuit, some times the little solinoids in the circuit have a dirty prong that plugs in the base, unplug and plug them in a coup;e of times.

[boatfixer]

You never mentioned what exactly it is you have so we can determine if its a solenoid or relays. In either case, you need to check all connections 1st.

Then determine if its a bad solenoid/relay or the trim motor itself.

[thatoneguy]

90hp 1996 Merc

[boatfixer]

Would you happen to have the serial number?

[thatoneguy]

I can find it tomorrow...I know I've got it somewhere.

[boatfixer]

Ok sounds good.

In order to help you trouble shoot, I wanna know if its the older, 3 wire that uses solenoids or 2 wire relay.

[thatoneguy]

It was the motor. I bumped into a friend who's a marine mechanic, and he took a look at it. Checked connections and a few other things, then it got really high-tech: he lightly rapped the trimmotor housing with a wrench, hit the trim button, and it worked perfectly. He said something about a flat spot that I didn't understand, and said it should work fine now, but if it goes out again, the motor will need to be repaired or replaced.

[Ufatz]

Oh yeah, thats the little trick that makes boat mechanics $200 before lunch! LOL

[thatoneguy]

lucky for me this one was on the house.

[leech~~]

It was the motor. I bumped into a friend who's a marine mechanic, and he took a look at it. Checked connections and a few other things, then it got really high-tech: he lightly rapped the trimmotor housing with a wrench, hit the trim button, and it worked perfectly. He said something about a flat spot that I didn't understand, and said it should work fine now, but if it goes out again, the motor will need to be repaired or replaced.

My father in-law use to keep a rubber hammer on the old TV set to make adjustments too! But he wouldn't be stuck out on a lake with the motor tilted up!

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Sounds like a future problem to me. Anything you have to "tap" on to make it work can't be good.

[thatoneguy]

He said it's a pretty common thing n motors of that vintage. It's not something you have to tap every time, just once to unstick it. They wouldn't have been able to get it in for two weeks to replace the motor (I agree that's the long term fix), so I'm grateful for a temporary fix in the meanwhile. It now works better than the day I bought it.

[leech~~]

Hey tapping does work. My favorite "tapping fix" was in the movie (Never Cry Wolf) when Brian Dennehy was hanging outside the plane banging on the fuel valve to keep the motor working! Love that part!

Best line ever: boredom Tyler, boredom, that's what's wrong, how do you beat boredom Tyler?.....Adventure."

[IcePro]

Who has not tapped the starter to get it to work.

Earlier this year I was on the lake fishing and a pontoon waived me over to see if I could give them a tow. Boat would not start, I said tap on the starter while turn the key......engine started.

Learned this trick many years ago on the farm.