Outdrive Trim system problem

Pat310

Ok fellas thinking caps on. 2003 310 fiesta Vee with twin 5.0 mercs. Toward end of season trim button when trimming with throttle button was acting funky. Jumped in and when trimming up only starboard drive moved. Used trailer switches to trim the drives for rest of season. When I pulled boat for season tried seeing what was going on, starboard would raise up to limit then the port would start up and go to limit. With both drives trimmed up to limit both would come down together some times and individually other times. Trailer switch only picks drives to trim limits.  Any ideas?

reneechris14

I would try swaping solenoid maybe power or ground. Cheap part and nice to have a spare, same one for starting on the manifold.

LaRea

Also check that the power and ground connections at the pump are clean and tight on BOTH pumps.  Maybe a bad connection on the stbd pump means it's pulling down the voltage more than it should.  

YYZRC

Override the trim limiter by disconnecting the bullet connectors at the transom and connect them together with a short wire. Test. That will rule out the senders before you go dumping money into the pump or binnacle. 

LaRea

[Edit:  duh, ignore this one!] Lenco electric trim, right?  Wouldn't that have to be a failed controller?  Actuators either work or don't, and I haven't heard much about buttons failing.  

Pat310

@LaRea I’m talking about the trim on the drives. 

Handymans342

Has to be the trim sensors

Pat310

@Handymans342 the sensors were brand new in spring. Starboard side indicator didn’t work but figured that was the gauge. I rechecked all the sensors after haul. Odd thing is that the one drive goes up to limit before the other starts to move

Handymans342

Maybe a leak. 

Pat310

No oil in the bilge, no oil in the water and oil level same as in the spring 

Pat310

Thanks @reneechris14. Place to start. Thinking it has to be electrical because pumps work fine. Weird that trailer switches wont let drives go up past the trim limits either

LaRea

So the port won't trim up while the stbd is trimming up.  I'm betting it's a weak power connection on the port pump. 

You probably have both pumps connected to the same battery.  While the stbd is trimming up, it temporarily pulls down the voltage.  If the port pump has a loose or corroded connection on power or ground, maybe it can't get enough power until after the stbd pump finishes.

Can you trace the pump wires to see where they get power and ground?

Pat310

Just to follow up on this thread for future searches. I changed the two solenoids on the port trim pump (the one that was lagging behind),and that fixed the problems. Thanks everyone for your input. 

reneechris14

Good fix