The Mariah Owners Club
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Show 40 post(s) from this thread on one page

The Mariah Owners Club (http://www.mariahownersclub.com/forum/)
-   General Maintenance (http://www.mariahownersclub.com/forum/general-maintenance/)
-   -   Engine Trim Gauge stopped working. (http://www.mariahownersclub.com/forum/general-maintenance/11616-engine-trim-gauge-stopped-working.html)

1996 Mariah Z252 07-10-2017 04:38 AM
Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
How can I fix this? The connections look fine and sometimes it will work randomly but then stop working shortly later. Any suggestions?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Hudson River Steve 07-10-2017 11:20 AM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Generally when the trim gauge stops working the culprit is the position sensor which is located on the side of the outdrive. I assume you have a Mercruiser. If so, you will have to remove the outdrive to replace the sensor. While you are at it you should probably replace the trim limit switch as well and check the condition of you boots and gimbal bearing.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Firestone 07-10-2017 12:20 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Just to be clear. You can still move the outdrive, but it does not read on the gauge?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

1996 Mariah Z252 07-10-2017 03:18 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firestone (Post 63107)
Just to be clear. You can still move the outdrive, but it does not read on the gauge?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Yes.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

1996 Mariah Z252 07-10-2017 03:45 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson River Steve (Post 63105)
Generally when the trim gauge stops working the culprit is the position sensor which is located on the side of the outdrive. I assume you have a Mercruiser. If so, you will have to remove the outdrive to replace the sensor. While you are at it you should probably replace the trim limit switch as well and check the condition of you boots and gimbal bearing.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
When I was out driving through it would sometimes work. But it stopped again after I hit a bump.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Firestone 07-10-2017 03:50 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Uggg. Sounds electrical, sounds like you are going to need to chase the wiring to find the loose connection. Fyi I was messing around and pulled my breaker panel and found a few loose connections on the back and the one for my navigation lights completely off which did not work when I bought it last year. Now they are working great.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Hudson River Steve 07-10-2017 04:16 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
It's not uncommon for the trim sensor to become intermittent. The sensor lives under water, sometimes the seal fails. Also the insulation on the wiring to it that also lives under water often becomes brittle and cracks. You will have to trace the wires from the sensor and the limit switch through the transom. They come through the transom just above the drive shaft. The trim sensor and switch are usually terminated in bullet connectors that are mounted on the inside of the transom. You can check if it is the sensor, the wiring or the gauge by simply unplugging the two bullet connectors for the trim sensor which I believe is a brown/white wire and a black wire. Once unplugged the trim gauge should read fully down. If you short the brown/white wire to the other trim sensor wire which should be black then the gauge should read fully up. If this works OK then your gauge and wiring in the boat are good and the sensor/wiring to sensor is bad. If this does not work as described then the issue is either the wiring in the boat or the gauge itself. You can check the gauge by going behind the dashboard and removing the wire from the "S" terminal of the trim gauge. With the wire off, the gauge should read fully down. Now short the "S" terminal to the ground terminal, the gauge should read fully up.

elrack 07-11-2017 12:16 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
It's pretty common as HRS pointed out. Trim sensor or exposed wires are almost always the problem. There is a rotor / brush inside the sender on the starboard side of the outdrive. On the rotor there is a part (black strip) that changes the resistance, the brush touches that and sends that information change (current) to the trim gauge. You can take the rotor out and measure the resistance on it. The resistance will change on the black strip on the rotor. If at some point along the sweep the resistance gets too high the gauge will read it as fully down (I think). While this may not be your problem I still wanted to point it out as it is a $20 fix with no need to replace the entire send unit. You can test the rotor yourself with an ohm meter. If the insulation on the wires are cracked you can repair those as well. I have seen some pretty badly exposed wires and the trim sender still worked. My best guess is both wires coming out of the unit are exposed and touching, when you hit a bump they stop touching. The wires are attached to the brushes via screws in the send unit. You can remove the the wires there and replace up to where they are exposed, just use a good waterproof connector. Apologies for the long reply, I have repaired a "few" of them.

1996 Mariah Z252 07-11-2017 05:57 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elrack (Post 63144)
It's pretty common as HRS pointed out. Trim sensor or exposed wires are almost always the problem. There is a rotor / brush inside the sender on the starboard side of the outdrive. On the rotor there is a part (black strip) that changes the resistance, the brush touches that and sends that information change (current) to the trim gauge. You can take the rotor out and measure the resistance on it. The resistance will change on the black strip on the rotor. If at some point along the sweep the resistance gets too high the gauge will read it as fully down (I think). While this may not be your problem I still wanted to point it out as it is a $20 fix with no need to replace the entire send unit. You can test the rotor yourself with an ohm meter. If the insulation on the wires are cracked you can repair those as well. I have seen some pretty badly exposed wires and the trim sender still worked. My best guess is both wires coming out of the unit are exposed and touching, when you hit a bump they stop touching. The wires are attached to the brushes via screws in the send unit. You can remove the the wires there and replace up to where they are exposed, just use a good waterproof connector. Apologies for the long reply, I have repaired a "few" of them.
Thanks. Is that the starboard side while looking forward on the boat or the starboard side looking back at the engine?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

1996 Mariah Z252 07-11-2017 06:16 PM
Re: Engine Trim Gauge stopped working.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elrack (Post 63144)
It's pretty common as HRS pointed out. Trim sensor or exposed wires are almost always the problem. There is a rotor / brush inside the sender on the starboard side of the outdrive. On the rotor there is a part (black strip) that changes the resistance, the brush touches that and sends that information change (current) to the trim gauge. You can take the rotor out and measure the resistance on it. The resistance will change on the black strip on the rotor. If at some point along the sweep the resistance gets too high the gauge will read it as fully down (I think). While this may not be your problem I still wanted to point it out as it is a $20 fix with no need to replace the entire send unit. You can test the rotor yourself with an ohm meter. If the insulation on the wires are cracked you can repair those as well. I have seen some pretty badly exposed wires and the trim sender still worked. My best guess is both wires coming out of the unit are exposed and touching, when you hit a bump they stop touching. The wires are attached to the brushes via screws in the send unit. You can remove the the wires there and replace up to where they are exposed, just use a good waterproof connector. Apologies for the long reply, I have repaired a "few" of them.
There are 2 of them I see. Would I have to replace both? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8710be7ca4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4479173865.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:54 AM.
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Show 40 post(s) from this thread on one page