[Ingersoll444]

Well fot the last few years the tilt/trim on my boat has been acting up. It is a real early Alpha1 drive. [boats an 85, alpha 1's I hear started in 86, all factury late 85 boat??,one of the first 1's?? ]

What happans, is the trim down works, and the trailer button works, but the trim up does not work. Someone had said the limit switches are bad, and I did a quick test, and that looks to be the case. Now all I read says you have to pretty much tear the whole drive apart to change these. Is this true? Is there an easyer way to do it?

 

[Live Oak]

More or less that it correct. The entire hockey puck has to come out and the wiring is all one unit. You might be able to take the housing apart and clean it up inside and it might work. Could be that water has gotten in there and caused corrosion or other problem. I ran into a similar problem the the trim indicator. It does not indicate properly because a few of the indicator sensor windings are broken. It is a royal pain in the butt to replace so I just do without it and trim by feel.

 

[Ingersoll444]

well I have been trimming up with the trailer switch, but hate doing it becouse you have to be REAL carfull not to go to high, or the ujoints are tost in the drive.

 

[Live Oak]

It could just be that you have come crud in the upper limit switch and you can take the switch apart and clean it. The best advice I can give you Paul is to post this question to bo, Capt Ken, or Wierd Walt over on BoatDoctor.com. They are a very good bunch and have a ton of experience.

 

[Brian]

Have you checked the button itself to make sure it is not bad? Do you have the round push button switches? I will look monday at work in our service manuals ad see what i can figure out. can you get me the serial number from either the drive or engine? PM it to me.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Originally posted by Brian
Have you checked the button itself to make sure it is not bad? Do you have the round push button switches? I will look monday at work in our service manuals ad see what i can figure out. can you get me the serial number from either the drive or engine? PM it to me.

Nope mine has a toggle type switch on the throttle lever. Did a quick test a few years ago and seemd good. As for the numbers? Well the boat is 4 hours away from me at this time, so that will have to wait for now. Thanks for the help.

 

[Brian]

I'll look in our service manuals for an 85 alpha and see what I can figure out for you.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Thanks Brian. I have a little time till I am going to my boat, so don;t kill yourself. Thanks.

 

[Rodster]

You guys are getting ready to launch your boats and I am going to pull mine out of the water Thursday and head back to winter in Michigan.
Rodster

 

[Ingersoll444]

Originally posted by Rodster
You guys are getting ready to launch your boats and I am going to pull mine out of the water Thursday and head back to winter in Michigan.
Rodster

ME?? OMG no, I will be lucky to be in the end of June. Just got to get ready you know

 

[Rodster]

Hey Guys
I was out on the water today and my tilt and trim quit. I got back to the dock and checked it out. My boat is an 85 Mercruiser
Alpha. Mine has two fuses on the hydraulic unit. One is a 120 amp fuse that runs the pump motor and the other is a 20 amp fuse that brings in the solonoids. turns out the 20 amp fuse blew.
I put in a new fuse and it seems good. I burned out the brushes
on the motor 3 years ago. Turns out that the motor uses Tecumseh starter motor brushes and possibly other parts.
When I burned out my tilt motor I was in the Keys. So until I got home I removed the motor and used a cordless screwdriver
in the slot to run the pump. It was slower but I was able to raise
the unit when I put it on the trailer.
Rodster

 

[Ingersoll444]

Guess I jinxed you huh Rodster.

 

[Rodster]

HA HA
Yea. I just read about trim problems and then mine messes up.
Rodster

 

[Live Oak]

When you hit the up trim, do can you at least hear the solenoid click in the trim pump unit? If not, it could just be the trim switch. Did you ever try posting your problem over on boatdoctor.com?

 

[Ingersoll444]

Been a year, but I "think" I remember it clicking.

 

[Brian]

Paul send me your email address at ([email protected]) and I will email you the pages out of the service manual for trim troubleshooting.

 

[Ernie]

Going back to Michigan.......

Originally posted by Ingersoll444
ME?? OMG no, I will be lucky to be in the end of June. Just got to get ready you know: It's nice to hear that your going north so I can clean up on the fishing.......As I try to get out on the weekends [every one] I now know why the ramps are so crowded... If you need a hand with the loading of your boat on to your trailer just give a holler and I'll bring big Red to give you a lift..... Its a shame that I can fish all year round with out seeing snow or ice:furious:

 

[Ingersoll444]

Originally posted by Brian
Paul send me your email address at ([email protected]) and I will email you the pages out of the service manual for trim troubleshooting.

Sorry Brian, missed the reply. Thanks I will foward the info.:thumbsup:

 

[Rodster]

Hi
Here is a good site with information and an online store. He is local to me and I get my parts and info from him for the last 3 years. He only deals with Mercruiser out drives parts and tools.
Check it out. He even has a how to repair section. I have been to his shop many times. He even lends me the special tools so I don't have to make or buy them. I think he has how to change the limit switches on his site.

http://www.mercstuff.com/

Rodster

 

[Ingersoll444]

GREAT thanks Rodster