Power Trim Problems

[Chuck Healey]

Brought my boat home today for the Winter. Changed the water impeller. Changed oil etc. Tried to tilt motor (99 Honda 50HP) back up and nothing, trim switch on throttle lever and motor do not operate. I thought it might be a dead battery, but after charging the battery, motor lifted about an inch and stopped again. Any suggestions? I thought it might be a blown fuse, but I don't think there is a fuse just for the trim, or is there? I'll take another look tomorrow, but any suggestions would be helpfull.

[Catigale]

There has to be a fuse for that kind of current Chuck...if there isnt pleae put one in ASAP!!!

[hiram6]

Don't know if they all have this, but my Merc 2 stroke has a pin near the hinge mechanism to lock it in the up position. You have to pull this out to allow the up/down tilt to proceed. Look on the starboard side of your outboard near where the engine pivots.

[kmclemore]

Likewise on the Tohatsu/Nissan units, there is a 'kick-stand' like device that flips down and holds the motor in the elevated position.

This kick-stand is most often used when trailering the boat so that the motor doesn't flop around. I usually drop that stand then lower the motor using the hydraulic trim pump so that there's mild tension down on the stand. This secures the motor nicely.

IIRC, the Honda's may have a similar latch-type device under the motor that holds the motor elevated?

[Beam's Reach]

There's a pin on my Evinrude 50HP as well that holds the motor up. But it sounds like that's not your problem since even with the pin or whatever your set up is engaged, you'll still hear the trim trying to raise or lower, it just won't get past the locking point. If you can't hear it, it's a power problem.

[argonaut]

The BF50A has an electro-hydraulic trim.
Electric motor operates a hydraulic jack that moves the motor.
As stated, if you don't hear the motor you likely have a electric fault.

Despite all the time I've spent fiddling with mine instead of sailing I'm assured that A.) Hondas don't break and B.) There are plenty of repair folks and abundant parts.

I've found neither to be the case.

Were you to try & fix it yourself, I'd have the factory repair manual even if the only thing I ever used it for was to change the plugs. The Seloc one I bought was pretty junky. I have seen repair parts at one place online, let me know if you want to know where. Seems like the motor is an assembly. Mine's pretty badly rusted on the end of the motor and probably will soon be gone too. There's a manual way to raise & lower the thing too, a kind of mechanical bypass.

[DLT]

Is it making noise when you press the button?

If so, then look for pins or other devices that may be preventing movement.

If not, then it is likely an electrical problem.

[kmclemore]

Is it making noise when you press the button?

If so, then look for pins or other devices that may be preventing movement.

If not, then it is likely an electrical problem.

Third option - not enough hydraulic fluid.

[argonaut]

Third option - not enough hydraulic fluid.

??
Fascinating. OK, I'll bite.
How does lack of hydraulic fluid in the pump prevent the hydro pump from working?
Wouldn't the pump still spin?


Dual relays control the direction the motor turns, and the diagram indicates a fuse protecting the circuit. I'll try & see where it is.

On edit, the engine has two fuses under the cowl. They are in a single housing. One fuse protects the starter circuit, the other protects the trim/tilt circuit Both are 15A blade fuses. I'd check these first since the trim doesn't work either direction.

With the cowl off, sitting in the aft cockpit looking at the motor, you should see heavy wires going to the starter motor which is about the size of a jar of peanut butter. Tucked on the left (starboard) side of the starter motor is the fuse holder, the top of which can be pried off to reveal the blade fuses.

The motor itself has two leads and can be unplugged and eliminated using battery voltage to see if it turns, an ohmmeter may indicate the windings are good but it could be bound up from corrosion or something.

[waternwaves]

The tilt cylinder shafts also bind up with corrosion/salt

[Chuck Healey]

Thanks for the replies. I tried it the next day and everything worked fine, like nothing was ever wrong.... very weird. I'm still going to see if I can find out what happened. Luckily it was parked in the driveway at the time. Next time I might not be so lucky. I know there is a manual overide, but I would hate to try to get to it in the middle of a storm.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

My Merc has a second switch on the motor. If you have one and you are getting intermittent switch operation on the control lever, maybe try the other switch and see what happens.

[Chuck Healey]

When the power tilt didn't work, both switches were inoperable, (switch on throtle lever the one on the moter itself), so I don't think the problem was in the switch.