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stern drive repair

don nates

New member
I have a 1993 Wellcraft Excel 20 on a Volvo 4.3 engine, it has an sp-c stern drive that will go up but will not trim down. Any ideas on what the issue may be? Thanks
 
Yes , I do have the SP-C stern drive ! Is that good , or bad ? Also , the problem is that it will go down but not up. The stern drive indicator on the dash reads almost all of the way up , and the stern drive is all of the way down.
 
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Yes , I do have the SP-C stern drive ! Is that good , or bad ?
Whether SP or DP, the "C" and later AQ series drives are my favorite. This is the good stuff!

Also , the problem is that it will go down but not up.
In your post #1, you said that the drive will raise up, but will not go down!
Which is it????


The stern drive indicator on the dash reads almost all of the way up , and the stern drive is all of the way down.
Depending on the above correct answer, are you able to hear the electric pump motor operating while you attempt to trim in the problem direction?
 
Okay, originally stated information was not correct. In fact, it will power down and you can here the electric pump motor operating. but when I attempt to make it go up , nothing happens. No pump noise or anything. We traced the wires with an ohm meter and everything seem good. We've even switched the solenoid's around and found no change. I'm beginning to think it's a sensor problem due to the fact that the gauge on the dash say's that the stern drive is up , when in fact it is down. That's a can of worms not to mention the cost , and then finding out I still have the same problem. Frustrated to say the least !
 
It's because the sender is saying it is already up. There is nothing wrong with your wiring, switch or trim pump. Sort the sender out and I guarantee it will work fine.
 
That's what I thought also. I am mechanically inclined, but have no idea of how to go about shorting out the sensor. I don't want any fire issues due to guess work. Any thoughts ?
 
It's because the sender is saying it is already up. There is nothing wrong with your wiring, switch or trim pump. Sort the sender out and I guarantee it will work fine.

Very likely and possible, and certainly worth looking into!

Make sure that both solenoids are working correctly.
You should be able to circumvent the OEM wiring harness and operate the pump motor in either direction.
 
Yeah. I was hoping that by unplugging something or jumping across a wire or something of that nature would help me to get to the problem . I don't have a manual or anything like that yet . The boat is new to me and I inherited a few problems . I have to replace the trim cylinders also. A new pair came with the boat, and I can see why he didn't want to do them because you almost have to hang upside down to get at the pins inside the motor compartment to remove them.
 
You should be able to get the suspension fork hinge pins out hydraulically.
After the pin keeper is removed, you should see a grease port.
Connect your grease up and see if they will start to move out!
 
Thanks ! I'm about to get started on that now. I'm kinda new to this remove and replace thing . My other boat was purchased new. I've never had anything break in years.
 
Does anyone have any idea's about what to do about the sensor problem on the trim. I'm trying to put it back in sync to where the trim is up and the gauge reads up . Or the trim is down and the gauge reads down. When I purchased this boat the gauge was dangling below the dashboard and the owner had no clues as to why . Stumped !
 
Does anyone have any idea's about what to do about the sensor problem on the trim. I'm trying to put it back in sync to where the trim is up and the gauge reads up . Or the trim is down and the gauge reads down. When I purchased this boat the gauge was dangling below the dashboard and the owner had no clues as to why . Stumped !

In the image below, notice the rack gear that is attached to the helmet.
Notice the little round gear that the rack gear rotates as the helmet changes positions.
That round gear is attached to a vertical shaft that fits up/into the "hollow" collar steering fork shaft.
The round gear's shaft operates the trim position sensor that sits above the collar steering fork shaft and spindle arm.

If you remove the rack gear fastener, you can disengage the gears from one another.
This will allow you to rotate the small round gear, and in turn making an adjustment to the trim sensor unit.

NOTE: as you slide the rack gear back into position, it will rotate the round gear a bit, so plan accordingly.

Volvo Penta trim indicator system.jpg



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