Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Johnson Trim Problem

W

wasc

New member
Hello,

I had a problem a couple of days before, everything was ok, then while I was trimming up and down in the marina, I realized a squeazing sound while trimming up, but just the sound was weird it was working fine and lifting up the engine... The next day I was curious about the noise if it has gone away or not, I first trimmed down and it was ok, I tried trimming up but this time trim motor couldn't lift up the johnson. I tried many times but it just stays there, just squeazing sound and no action..

Here is the video ,excuse me I've recorded it in a wrong angle..

Do you have any idea what had happened?

Kind Regards

 
You'll probably want to get it out of the water to mess with it so you can actually get to what actuates. You need to make sure you're not losing any hydraulic fluid. Do you operate in salt water? It might be as simple as just cleaning up the pivot points for the motor. You can mechanically lift the motor once you disconnect the hydraulic ram and then try to operate it to see if the ram is lifting with no load. It does sound as though the electric motor is working in both directions. I've worked on many different hydraulic systems, but my marine base is limited. What I've said here is general for all hydraulic systems. Someone else may come along and ask more questions to help drill down to the actual problem in play here. Make sure you answer those questions as there are some very experienced marine techs here.

From me:
Check if it's actuating with no load.
Check for binding in the pivots.
This may be fixed by just cleaning and lubricating the pivot points if the lift operates with no load.
 
Last edited:
zmany2k said:
You'll probably want to get it out of the water to mess with it so you can actually get to what actuates. You need to make sure you're not losing any hydraulic fluid. Do you operate in salt water? It might be as simple as just cleaning up the pivot points for the motor. You can mechanically lift the motor once you disconnect the hydraulic ram and then try to operate it to see if the ram is lifting with no load. It does sound as though the electric motor is working in both directions. I've worked on many different hydraulic systems, but my marine base is limited. What I've said here is general for all hydraulic systems. Someone else may come along and ask more questions to help drill down to the actual problem in play here. Make sure you answer those questions as there are some very experienced marine techs here.

From me:
Check if it's actuating with no load.
Check for binding in the pivots.
This may be fixed by just cleaning and lubricating the pivot points if the lift operates with no load.
Click to expand...


Dear Sir,

Thank you for your reply,

As far as I know, trim is working with a grease oil pressure.

I forgot to add something, that day I was looking for the fuse in johnson motor, I disconnected some sockets until I found the fuse socket box, but as far as I remember, the connections of the sockets were not rusty and there were not any corrosion..After 1 -2 hours this issue has occured.


I operate in salt water

Some people said that "you should add more grease oil to the trim, oil level may be decreased and this causes trim oil pressure to fail and not to lift up on load.."
 
Yeah, It's still a hydraulic system even it's using a different type of fluid. From the video, it sounds as though the electric pump/motor is still operating which leads to a few different causes of which pressure could be an issue. If you're having to add fluid, then you're probably losing fluid somehow as well and need to correct that.

I'm not personally familiar with how your motor is lifted and how your electric trim is set up. My boat is a mechanical trim. Electric over hydraulic would be nice, but I'm ok with mine.
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
What is the model number? If it was working before you were messing with the wiring I would put money it is just a bad connection somewhere. Pull all those connectors apart again and clean with electrical cleaner then after dry put them back together with dielectric grease.
Click to expand...

That's right ! The trim was working fine.

I'll take a photo of the trim later but I can say that it's johnson trim 2004 or 2005.

I was messing with the connectors just to find the fuse, I gently pulled off and plugged in many connectors until I found that fuse. While I was pulling off the connectors I was also checking whether there is corrosion or rust in the parts and they were looking clean..

After that night a little squeasing sound began to occur while I was going home and trimmed up the engine took another 2 hours to figure it out what was happening.

I just tried a couple of times trimming down and up to check the sound again and again if it will go away but the sound becase more louder and trimming up became slower then it stopped in a very low level that propeller is still in the sea and didn't trim up at all.

First thing that came to my mind was what I did with the connectors ! But I said, that not an option they were clean and took one step further to oil grease level and other stuff..

But you're right! I should check all the connectors again !

Does WD-40 work for electrical cleaning or another product ? Should I spray it to every connector inside even if they look clean and shiny ?

Thank you very much !


Example of wire connectors (not the same though)

auto-part-auto-waterproof-connector.jpg
Another one :

R473.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'll give it a try, it has a nice price.

It's weird those new looking connectors caused an electrical issue after pulling off..
 
You can test that relay. The 87a pin looks like it's got a bit of corrosion on it, though not bad and that definitely doesn't mean anything. Do you know how to check relays for proper operation using a 12v supply and then running continuity checks? It should just switch from 87 to 87a. if it does when you supply 12v and a ground, it should switch. I'm still not convinced that it's an electrical problem. Granted, I'm not familiar with the system you're having an issue with either.
 
If you need an explanation on how to test them, I wrote a tech article a few years ago that I can post for you. Testing a four pin or a five pin is the same. You can also just buy five pin relays and cut off the 87a pin if you need a four pin. They work the exact same, but obviously you can't use a four pin when you need a five.
 
Thank you zmany2k , I don't know anything about boat motors yet, not that much experienced but I'm reading articles to improve my knowledge. I'll take photos of my motor and share here. I'll solve this issue step by step. First I'll check those wiring, connectors that I was messing with then the trim fluid. If it's wiring I'm lucky, but if not, it means that I'll take the boat to shore , more work..
 
I've solved the issue, it was because of the trim oil was low.. I've added and the trim goes up and down now. No problem.. But the question is , how can a fluid decrease without any reason? I've heard a little air leakage if I'm not mistaken, I've heard a sound like that after I fully added the oil (it was not the air pressure). I don't know if there is an air leakage it means that it will take water in and or the oil will flow away.. This is not good though..
 
Back
Top