Tilt trim moving on its own, is it ghosts?

[z33tec]

Just kidding. But I was in the garage the other day and heard a sound coming from where my boat was. Realized it was my motor trim running non stop. No idea how long it was doing that but hopefully not long enough to damage the trim motors or anything.

Anyhow, when I bought the boat, the previous owner said the trim down button stopped working on the throttle handle, but trim up still worked. Instead of fixing it, he ran his own trim down button and mounted it next to the throttle control. I figured I would get around to fixing it properly, but you how that goes.... If it works....

With that background, I realized the down trim button on the throttle handle WAS in fact working now if I messed around with it, and it would stop the motor from trimming for a few seconds, then it would kick back on on its own. I messed with it til I got it trimmed down to a workable position and disconnected the battery.

So basically, that was a long winded way of saying, how do I get this fricken throttle control arm off? I'm semi confident the wires are messed up on the switch and since we had some bad rain storms recently, some moisture got into the switch and kicked trim on.

Attaching pics of throttle control along with previous owners down trim hack button.

I found the secret screw cover and got the front unscrewed but not sure how to get the arm off. The push in neutral button in the middle has me thinking it has something to do with that, but I'm doing my best to not break anything.

Other than drilling out all the rivets on the fricken panel it's attached to, I'm stuck!

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[DaleH]

I have seen weird things from many an engine harmess, so I bet the connections are corroded, never mind the previous owner adding extra wire into the mix!

Looks look you need to de-rivet to diagnose. Tell me the diameter of the rivet and I can send you some replacements …

Usually the typical trim wire is ‘blue for sky’ for UP and ‘green for grass’ for DOWN, where the red is the common power, black being ground of course.

 

[Pappy]

No rivets in that assembly that need to be removed. But......before we dive into it make sure there is a replacement part for it and that it is indeed that switch that is the culprit. Ohmeter will tell you that. There will be three wires visible at the back of the con box. Red (power) Blue (up) and green (Down). With an ohmeter check between the red/green and red/blue with the switch NOT depressed. If you have a connection you have your culprit.

 

[z33tec]

I have seen weird things from many an engine harmess, so I bet the connections are corroded, never mind the previous owner adding extra wire into the mix!

Looks look you need to de-rivet to diagnose. Tell me the diameter of the rivet and I can send you some replacements …

Usually the typical trim wire is ‘blue for sky’ for UP and ‘green for grass’ for DOWN, where the red is the common power, black being ground of course.

I've never really had to deal with installing rivets so I don't have a rivet gun, but could certainly pick one up if needed. Any benefit to rivets in this situation over just metal screws or nut and bolt? I guess with screws it avoids the sharp point behind it.

How do you get the size of the river, measure the center hole?

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[DaleH]

Defer to Pappy’s reply …

 

[z33tec]

No rivets in that assembly that need to be removed. But......before we dive into it make sure there is a replacement part for it and that it is indeed that switch that is the culprit. Ohmeter will tell you that. There will be three wires visible at the back of the con box. Red (power) Blue (up) and green (Down). With an ohmeter check between the red/green and red/blue with the switch NOT depressed. If you have a connection you have your culprit.

Right, my problem right now is just GETTING to the back of the control box. Looks like I have to remove rivets to get to it. Otherwise won't have access to those wires.

From what I've seen I doubt the original switch is available anymore, but I've seen some people modify the throttle handle slightly to make third party switches work and fit. I'm hoping I can clean this one up though and make it work.

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[z33tec]

Going to try removing that speaker and seeing if that gives me enough access to get my hand in there and figure out how to disconnect it. If that doesn't work plan B will be removing the rivets.

 

[DaleH]

Good luck! On one hull I had to remove all those side panels for adequate access, but I was replacing the entire control head. What an absolute chore!

 

[Pappy]

One more time......
No rivets to remove! There is a screw at the handle pivot. Remove it.
Work the handle off. It is on a splined shaft, tight but will pull off. You may need to tap on the shaft the handle is pressed on to.
No need to remove the control box at all though if you are simply working on the trim switch and wiring. But if you want to......
The rest of the control box is simply passed through and out the back of the hole. Sometimes it will drop out the back.

 

[z33tec]

One more time......
No rivets to remove! There is a screw at the handle pivot. Remove it.
Work the handle off. It is on a splined shaft, tight but will pull off. You may need to tap on the shaft the handle is pressed on to.
No need to remove the control box at all though if you are simply working on the trim switch and wiring. But if you want to......
The rest of the control box is simply passed through and out the back of the hole. Sometimes it will drop out the back.

Ok this is interesting news. I just went out on my lunch break and removed the 3 remaining rivets at the top and I now have access behind there. Oh well! No harm done as it looks like previous person already did and they were missing one anyway. Will have to pop a couple back in there when done, no biggy.

Are you saying the handle pivot, which is also a push in button to select neutral, has a screw in the front somewhere? There's a black cover on the button which seems to spin but I'm pulling on it to see if I can expose a screw and it doesn't seem to budge. Not sure how hard I want to pull on it so as to not break anything.

Circled what I think you are referencing in red below.

Also, there is a screw on the back which matches up to the back of that pivot and where the throttle linkage disconnects it looks like. I was assuming that screw is what I would be after but maybe I was off base here.

Thanks for the assistance in the meantime!

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[z33tec]

Another discovery! I ran across someone mentioning something about moving the throttle all the way back to remove handle and there was an Allen screw hidden somewhere.

I noticed the handle had a cutout in the bottom so I moved it all the way to reverse and low and behold there looks like some type of set screw in there! This just might be the ticket. Will give that a shot after I'm done working.

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[z33tec]

Ok I'm dumb. More progress. The rubber was hiding the screw.

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[z33tec]

Can't get an Allen wrench on that set screw properly. Think it's holding the handle on now that I got that front pivot screw off. Hmmm.

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[z33tec]

We did it! Now the hard(er) part

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[z33tec]

Well crap.... It's a sealed switch... I thought it would have 3 open prongs on it and expected to find corrosion.

How do I go about testing this with a voltmeter? Anyone know how I'd look up this part to see if I can find any on ebay?

I did notice light burn marks on the red and green wires, as you can see in the pic near the connectors. Trim up was the only thing working before on this switch.

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[z33tec]

Ok forget testing the switch. I reconnected the battery and the trim isn't running anymore and the switch on the motor works fine now. It's definitely the switch from the handle that is bad.

The hack switch the previous owner put in works fine too in wondering if I should just say forget the throttle switch and make this one work with trim up as well.

I'll see if I can find a replacement switch first but the only number on the switch just says E0. No idea what the part number would be.

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[Pappy]

Okay...my bad. Was partially correct. I had forgotten about the allen screw. Yes that has to be removed to get the handle off.
Now. If you look on the Bay you should find Chinese replacement switches for the OEM switch. I have heard mixed reviews on their longevity but the price is certainly more attractive than OEM.
You can go to marineengine.com and to their accessory parts breakdowns and find the part number for the switch. You have a concealed side mount control box.

 

[z33tec]

Okay...my bad. Was partially correct. I had forgotten about the allen screw. Yes that has to be removed to get the handle off.
Now. If you look on the Bay you should find Chinese replacement switches for the OEM switch. I have heard mixed reviews on their longevity but the price is certainly more attractive than OEM.
You can go to marineengine.com and to their accessory parts breakdowns and find the part number for the switch. You have a concealed side mount control box.

No worries, appreciate the assistance!

I have 2 parts ordered actually. One of the cheaper chinese switches and 1 OEM handle that comes with the switch. We'll see how she goes!

 

[z33tec]

Well, we did it boys! We're back in business. 80 bucks later for an over priced plastic handle and switch and we got her all back together.

We won't talk about my beautiful initial wire connections that I had done that had to be cut off because I'm an idiot and didn't route the wires through the second half of the handle properly until it was too late. Then of course it starts raining so I quickly have to redo it and it's not nearly as nice, but oh well.

Sorry for the long winded thread, just want to document for the next poor sap that has a broken switch.

Part I ended up buying that fixed it was OMC kit trim switch 176530.

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[RaisedByWolves]

Well, we did it boys! We're back in business. 80 bucks later for an over priced plastic handle and switch and we got her all back together.

We won't talk about my beautiful initial wire connections that I had done that had to be cut off because I'm an idiot and didn't route the wires through the second half of the handle properly until it was too late. Then of course it starts raining so I quickly have to redo it and it's not nearly as nice, but oh well.

Sorry for the long winded thread, just want to document for the next poor sap that has a broken switch.

Part I ended up buying that fixed it was OMC kit trim switch 176530. 20210720_171005.jpg

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Heh, we’ve all been there.

My favorite move is to get everything soldered perfectly, then look down and see the heat shrink tubing laying on the table.