Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

Previous to this boat I had a Four Winns and and old Sea Ray so I like to think I know a little about basic boat stuff.

After about 7 years without a boat until we bought a 1994 202 Shabah last year (you can read my thread about blown engine and blown tires just below). We finally got it in the water yesterday for it's first use.

Engine was rebuilt so I was being very careful to not over due it. Everyone says I need to break it in like older cars so don't push it too much. Anyway the lake had a few shallow spots where I needed to slow down and trim up the out drive. I went up and down a few times as needed. I seem to recall watching the gauge go past 50%.

Then we were heading into shallow water later in the day and I tried to trim in a little past 50% and it would just stop there. I was thinking something wrong with the trim because with past boats I could trim all the way up if needed.

So when taking it out and putting it on the trailer, I start to pull it out and scrape scrape STOP. I get out, what the heck is that noise? Its the out drive bottom fin part touching the ground. I then very slowing move the boat to the side so others could get in and out.

Then I had about 4 guys scratching their heads working with me trying to get the out-drive up so we could get it home. Down then up and pull up on the drive with muscle, still it would stop with the bottom of the out-drive about 2 inches off the ground.

Now I am in a mess. Lake is about 30 miles from home, what to do. So I slowly pulled it off to a grassy area where I was going to leave it and cross my fingers until I could get a mechanic out to look at it.

Not one to give up, I am whapping the trim motor lightly with a hammer, checking connection etc.. up and down several more times with no luck.

Then I look closer at the forward neutral reverse handle (don't know what it is called), and I see another button that says "Trailer", I push that and zip, the motor goes all the way up. The day saved and we could get the boat home. I go from Zero to Hero in wife and daughter's eyes.

Anyway, should I be able to trim the motor up with the trim button higher that 50% on the gauge?

At 50%, it really is not high enough when going through shallow water. I checked the owners manual and it says use the trim when in the water and ONLY use the trailer button when taking it out of the water.

None of my boats had the trailer button, but when I needed to bring the motor up I could do so as far as needed with the trim button. Maybe there is a safety feature to prevent a boater from blowing the engine by trimming it up to far while driving fast and mine is set to conservatively?

Should I contact the marina that just rebuilt the engine or is this how Maria's work? If so, wondering how to get it up a little higher in shallow water without using the trailer button.

Re: Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

I did the same thing, your trim is working correctly, just remember the trailer button and check lower unit reserve fluid often


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Re: Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

So then do I use the trailer button to bring the outdrive up a bit higher if very shallow water?

The manual says no, but I go to some shallow sandy swimming holes where the current trim up is not up far enough.

Re: Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

Your outdrive trim button is doing exactly what it was designed to do and that's why they called it a 'trim' button. It's supposed to just provide some trim for bow up/down while underway. As Mwb712 said, make use of your 'trailer' button in really shallow water and/or loading or unloading the boat onto the trailer. Check that outdrive fluid often.

Re: Power Trim and other possible dumb questions
 

The fluid is about an inch down. Should it be to the brim? Is Trim and Till fluid a must or can I use that near full can of expensive power steering fluid doing nothing in my garage.

I saw a Youtube where the trim could be tweaked to have the outdrive go a little higher, but if same results with the trailer button I'll just use that. Since the manual says never use it for raising the outdrive while in the water and not at the dock so was just wondering if it did anything more that raise the outdrive up to the max position.

Not sure if the trailer button is common. Not one of the guys trying to help said "hey, does your boat have a trailer button?"

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I don't want to start a bunch of threads, so I'll ask another question here....

Driving it back we did not put the snap cover on. Nothing was in the boat to fly out and we just wanted to get home. While driving, I started thinking I hope the engine cover/pad does not catch the wind and open up and fly off. Now that would be a mess. Beyond a hazard, trying to replace it probably would be near impossible - would need one "Custom Made". It does not have any lock downs.

Anyone with a Shabah 202 ever have any issues with this?

Re: Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

Use proper Trim & Tilt fluid, not power steering fluid. I've read elsewhere that you can use ATF Dextron II in the trim / tilt reservoir also.

Some Mariahs have the 'trailer' button mounted on the stern of the boat while others have it mounted down by the throttle. Most bowrider boats have these buttons. As for your helpers, many are enthusiastic and want to help but most really dont know what they're doing.

There is a method to jumper the connections at the trim motor that will cause the outdrive to raise or lower as needed if your switches aren't working. You can read about that process here.


While i dont recall the exact threads, there was a couple of old posts here about people having their sunpad fly up while driving and get permanently damaged. I completely rebuilt mine last summer and used the old one as a template so its not really a difficult job, just a bit finicky & pricey if you are replacing the covering too.

Re: Power Trim - possible dumb question
 

After closer inspection, there are two snaps to keep the sunpad down and closed while driving. I did not see them and did not have them snapped. Lucky no issues.