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Alpha 1 trim pump not working.

briang0

Regular Contributor
My 1983 Oildyne trim pump with a metal reservoir was working fine last night I went down tonight and went to put the out drive down and it would not move no noise nothing. If I push the up switch the motor spins and if I press the trailer button the motor spins. Just do not hear anything when I push the switch down no click nothing. I pulled the 3 wire connector at the pump and the contacts look clean. I saw another thread that has a procedure to trouble shoot an 1988 pump I'm wonder if it would be the same on a 83. Also how do I add fluid to the reservoir and what kind of fluid do I add. The reservoir has no cap that I can find. I'm thinking right now that the down solenoid may be bad since the up works but the down does not.
 
trimm_zps4feebb31.jpg
 
should be the same

How the trim/tilt works

Before you tear anything apart or replace wiring and switches, test it out; firstby visual inspection by pulling back and forth on the wires while operating theswitches and then test with a meter. At the commander switches ,the red wirewill always have 12 volts. The green wire gets 12 volts when the trim toggle isheld down. The blue wire gets 12 volts only when the toggle is held up or thetrailer switch is pushed in. The purple wire is part of the limit switchcircuit.

If the switch voltages are as they are supposed to be then go to the trim/tiltpump assy. and make sure the purple wire connector (single wire) and the bluewire connector with two blue wires on one side of the connection are notcorroded or loose. These are the trim position and limit switch wires. Pullthem apart and inspect; they should be clean and tight; reconnect them. Ifnecessary, trace the wires to the front of the engine near the slave solenoid.One wire is grounded near there and the other is connected to a terminal. Ifyou don't get a voltage reading at the terminal junction, apply 12 VDC to seeif the trim gauge moves. If it does, check for voltage back at the trim pumpconnections. If there is no voltage there, apply 12 VDC there to check gaugemovement.

Next check the three wire connector (RED, BLUE & GREEN) at the pump assy.This plug can vibrate loose and cause your problem. Pull it off and see if the pinsare clean and not corroded; reconnect it.

The RED wire in the plug sends 12 volts from the pump assy. to the toggleup/down and trailer up switches. The BLUE & GREEN wires bring 12 volts fromthe toggle trim/tilt and trailer switches to the two solenoids on the pumpassy.

The GREEN wire goes to the DOWN solenoid while the BLUE wire goes to the UPsolenoid.

Did you check the switches with an ohmmeter? The trim/tilt switch is a 2-wayswitch and will show continuity only when it is toggled in each directionbetween two of the wires.

Up toggle connects the RED wire to the BLUE wire. Down toggle connects the REDwire to the GREEN wire. The TRAILER UP switch also connects the RED wire to theBLUE wire.

The OD trim limit switch will only send voltage to the trim/tilt switch in theupward toggle position if the OD limit switch is below the adjusted trim limitthat keeps the OD being out of the water.

To test the limit switch circuit, lower the OD to the down position and slowlyraise it with the trim toggle up until it stops. Then measure the distancebetween the trim cylinder attaching bolts. If the distance is approx. 20 +/-1/4inches, then the trim limit switch is adjusted properly and the commander trimtoggle switch is working in the up/down mode.

Go to the trim/tilt pump assy. and make sure the purple wire connector (single wire)and the blue wire connector two blue wires on one side of the connection arenot corroded or loose. Pull them apart; they should be clean and tight;reconnect them. Next check the three (RED, BLUE & GREEN) wire connector atthe pump assy.The RED wire in the plug sends 12 volts from the pump assy. tothe toggle up/down and trailer up switches. This plug can vibrate loose andcause your problem. Pull it off and see if the pins are clean and not corroded;reconnect it.

The BLUE & GREEN wires bring 12 volts from the switches to the twosolenoids on the pump assy. The GREEN wire goes to the DOWN solenoid while theBLUE wire goes to the UP solenoid.

Disconnect the trim/tilt assy. wires from the battery and then check each ofthe nuts and studs on the solenoids for clean and tight fittings. Each solenoidhas three wires and the buss bar connected to it. The bases of them have ablack ground wire and a small blue wire to one and a small green wire to theother.

On top of each solenoid, the large BLUE wire from the pump motor attaches to alarge copper stud with the solenoid that has the small blue wire at the base whilethe large GREEN wire from the pump motor attaches to a large copper stud withthe solenoid that has the small green wire at the base.

The other copper solenoid studs are connected together with a copper buss bar.One of the two studs will also have a funny looking 110 amp fuse attached tothe bar. The large RED wire from the battery connects to the 110 amp fuse. Thislarge red wire is the power for this buss bar. A small RED wire attached to thebar stud sends 12 volts to the switches which in turn sends the 12 volts to thesolenoids which turns on the pump motor.

Important: if the studs on the either solenoid are dark and not like a cleanpenny, especially the BLUE wired solenoid, this solenoid is failing due to ageand/or a loose bottom copper stud nut. The dark color comes from heat generatedinside of the solenoid by the contactor because it is arcing like weldingsimilar to points wearing out. Change the solenoid.

Cleaning Trim Limit Switch & Trim Position Sender

For the trim/tilt, if the wires from the limit switch (port side) and trimposition sender (starboard side) are in good condition, they (Switch or sender)can be disassembled to clean out the old hardened grease. SCRIBE the sides ofeach one and the OD for a reference mark before removal. Clean out the oldgrease and pump fresh Mercruiser 2-4-C grease thru the zerk fittings beforereinstallation. Clean the small brass contact points with solvent and a pencileraser until shiny; repack w/ 2-4-C grease and reinstall by aligning reference marks.

 
Thank you for the trouble shooting tips.... It appears to be the solenoid when I apply 12v to the green and white wire post on the solenoid nothing happens but if I put 12v on the blue and white wire post on the up solenoid the pump works. If I put 12v on the large post of the down solenoid I can make the pump work and make the drive go down. I tested the switches and checked the other connection and I have 12v on the green and white wire when I push the switch to make the out drive go down. Thanks again!!!!!
 
I would replace both solenoids as a pair since they both have the same wear time on them. Doing so will keep you from revisiting the issue again soon. JMHO
 
I replaced both of the solenoids tonight. I had removed the pump assembly from the bracket on Sunday to do some trouble shooting so it was not standing vertical for the last 2 days. Anyway like I said I replaced the solenoids tonight and now the up and down switch makes the pump kick on but the out drive will not go down even though the pump spins. I turned the valve on the pump and manually lowered the drive so I could start the boat and charge up the battery. I checked the fluid level and it is good. I was able to raise the drive by using the up switch so I'm assuming the pump is working. How do I trouble shoot this? It was working until the solenoid broke. Do I have air in the lines because I had the pump on it's side for a while? How can I get the air out. Do I have to pull the boat out to bleed the lines? From what I read in the manual it looks like I have to.
 
The vent screw must be cracked open to vent air. Have someone stand/jump on the drive while another operates the down switch. The pump and valve body are 30 years old. There may be some trash in the valve body. Don't try to adjust anything in the V-body. Simple bleeding is done by running the OD up/down several times. If it doesn't work then the manual procedure should be followed.
 
OK I bled the system today I had varied results. The out drive now goes up and down. When I bled the down side of the system it worked just like it said in the manual I got some air out and then a steady stream of fluid. When I bled the Up side no matter how much fluid I ran through the system I had trouble getting a steady stream. I put it back together and filled the reservoir and ran the drive up and down a few times. It goes down nicely but it goes up a little slow and when it gets to the top of the stroke I can push down on the drive and move it a couple of inches it will pop right back up but I can move it. I don't know if this is normal or not. When it is down I cannot move it at all. Does anyone know of a way to bled it on the up side to get the air out? I had both up lines off at the same time I assumed this was correct. Is that movement normal. I've gone through a lot of fluid trying to get this right. I was standing on the out drive while my wife operated the switches up and down but I do not want to repeat it over an over because I'm afraid of burning up the solenoids so I let them cool down for 5 - 10 minutes in between cycles. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
It goes down nicely but it goes up a little slow
All normal...it takes quite a bit of hydraulic pressure to raise the OD. Just make sure you keep the vent screw open 1/4 turn CCW and keep an eye on the fluid level as any residual air dissipates.
 
I now have a new issue with my trim pump. It now falls over time 24 - 48 hour it will go from fully up to fully down by itself. Today I checked all my connections to make sure they were tight. When i went to check the manual release valve both ears broke off it. With almost no effort. Now it is just about flush with the housing. I was thinking about trying to cut a slot in the plastic with a knife and trying to remove it with a flat blade screw driver. I was lucky to find a replacement part on Ebay. I'm open for suggestions if this is a bad idea please tell me, if you have a better one let me know. I'm thinking maybe one or more of the o rings may be cracked and that's why it is dropping.
 
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