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2004 Alpha One, Gen 2, trim limit switch operation

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marktaco

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I just purchased a 2004 Sea Ray that has a 4.3 Mercruiser with Alpha One outdrive and a single lever control. I had all the bellows, hoses, etc. replaced. While looking over the mechanics work, I noticed that the insulation on the wires going to both the Trim Limit switch and the Trim Sender gauge are cracked, exposing the wires. My trim guage works properly, despite this condition. I repaired the insulation on both wires using liquid insulation.

However, I don't know if the trim limit switch works. I understand it's purpose and given it's importance, I need to know it works properly. Can anyone describe, in detail, what should be happening relative to the outdrive moving up and down with both the key on and off?

I assume that with the key on (or does the engine actually have to be running?) the outdrive should go to full down when I push the down trim button on the shift/throttle lever. Mine does. When the outdrive reaches full down, is the pump supposed to stop because the limit switch shuts it off? My pump keeps running and only stops when I release the button. Of course, with the engine running I can't hear the pump but can see that the outdrive is in full down on the trim gauge. With the key on, when I push the up button, the drive comes up to the full trailer position if I hold the button long enough. Is it supposed to stop earlier or does this function only work if the engine is actually running?

It's unfortunate he missed the wire problem while the outdrive was off. Certainly, it would have been easier to replace them while it was off. Is it possible to replace these switches and wires without pulling the drive?

Thanks!
 
The key does not need to be on for the trim to work.

With the outdrive all the way down, press the trim button, not the trailer button.

The outdrive should come up, rule of thumb is 3 -3 1/2" of trim ram extension.

or one onethousand two onethousand threeonethousand count....

at this point it should stop.

This is a dry setting and only gets you in the ball park. The boat must be water tested to set it up properly.

What this adjustment accomplishes is, when you trim the outdrive up/out it raises the bow of the boat up, (this is for when already on plane!!)
the boat kinda lifts out of the water and allows for higher speed due to less of the boat being in the water.

If the outdrive is raised too high the propeller will cavitate. and the boat will lose speed.

To adjust this you simply loosen the two phillips head screws and turn the black plastic "puck" clock wise or counter clock wise until the proper hieght is achieved. what you want is the outdrive to satop before cavitation.

The trialer button bypassed the switch so it will raise the outdrive no matter what.

DOes this clear things up?

The trim limit and trim sender are sold in pairs and cost ~ $80 + dollars + labor to install....
 
You must have two switches.

one should be a rocker type switch the other a push button type switch.

if you could take a picture of your control and post it that would help..
 
Howthe trim/tilt works

Before you tear anything apart or replace wiring and switches, test it out;first by visual inspection by pulling back and forth on the wires whileoperating the switches and then test with a meter. At the commander switches,the red wire will always have 12 volts. The green wire gets 12 volts when thetrim toggle is held down. The blue wire gets 12 volts only when the toggle isheld up or the trailer switch is pushed in. The purple wire is part of thelimit switch circuit.

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 gauge movement.

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 thepins are 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 +/-1/4 inches, then the trim limit switch is adjusted properly and the commandertrim toggle switch is working in the up/down mode.

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

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 basewhile the large GREEN wire from the pump motor attaches to a large copper studwith the 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 problem you are experiencing, if the wires from the limitswitch (port side) and trim position sender (starboard side) are in goodcondition, they (Switch or sender) can be disassembled to clean out the oldhardened grease. SCRIBE the sides of each one and the OD for a reference markbefore removal. Clean out the old grease and pump fresh Mercruiser 2-4-C greasethru the zerk fittings before reinstallation. Clean the small brass contactpoints with solvent and a pencil eraser until shiny; repack w/ 2-4-C grease andreinstall by aligning reference marks.

 
Thanks for the explanation. From the picture below, you can see which throttle/shift/trim control I have on my boat. The "rocker" type switch controls the trim. There is no separate "trailering" button on the boat. When I press the outdrive DOWN trim button, either with the engine running, just the key on, or the key off, the outdrive goes all the way down. The pump keeps running even though the outdrive is fully down. The pump only stops running when I stop pressing the trim up/down button.

When I press the outdrive UP trim button, either with the engine running, just the key on, or the key off, the outdrive comes all the way up to the trailering position. The pump keeps running even though the outdrive is fully up. The pump only stops running when I stop pressing the trim up/down button.

Is this normal operation? If so, what is the limit switch doing? I thought it's purpose was to stop the outdrive from coming up beyond a certain point while the engine is running (or key on?) If so, it would seem that the limit switch is not working.

Thanks for your help and time guys.
 

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According to my owners manual, the "rocker" type switch on the throttle/gear shift control lever is correctly named the "power trim switch". This switch, when pressed on the top or bottom, will FULLY RAISE or LOWER, respectively, the outdrive. By fully raise, I mean all the way up so I can trailer it. There are no other switches controlling the outdrive up/down.
 
The rocker switch down button is suppose to work the way you describe.

The up is not.

I am not sure what brand that is but, is there a trailer button on your dash? or any button that controls the trim, on the dash?

Typically only outboard shift controls only have a single button (rocker type like yours) and no trailer button because they just do. Not going to explain the outboard stuff.....

Is there a second rocker switch that is not visable in your picture, like on the other side of the handle?


The other thing you can look for is near the engine and typically near the trim pump assembly you should see two black wires connected to two blue with white stripes and a purple wires in a small block. if this is so look at it and try to explain how it is connected.

If you find a second switch that is supose to control the trailer function then all you need to do is to adjust the limit switch to stop the up movement as i described earlier. That is if the switch works. it is a rotary on/off switch.
In the pic i atached it showsthe trailer switch as bieng a seperate switch which would indicate it is mounted somewhere other than the control handle.

See what you find and report back

Here is a schematic of what it should look like
 
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The trim/trailer is a single rocker switch on my 2005 gen 2. The "up" has two positions, pressing it lightly to go up, the outdrive will stop when it reaches the set point on the limit switch, pressing it harder to the second up position, the drive will go all the way up to the trailer position. Maybe check your rocker switch to see if you can "feel" these two positions.
 
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Good response.........I have not had the pleasure of using or seeing one of these type controls........

My boat is a 1987 with the original shift controll...............

Learn something new....

I am not sure I agree with an all in one senerio.... I like full control from one or the other not from the same based on finger pressure.

Just my opinion.......

See if that works and report back........
 
Figured it all out and have the trim switch properly adjusted. On the throttle/shift lever (see picture) there is a "rocker" type switch near the top. That controls trim up, down AND trailering. When you want to raise the outdrive, you press on the top part of the rocker switch. If you hold it long enough, the outdrive comes up to the limit determined by the trim limit switch and then the pump shuts off. To trailer the boat, you push the top portion of the rocker switch again and the outdrive will come all the way up if you hold it long enough. I note that when the drive is down, it only takes light pressure on the top part of the switch. After it reaches the limit, it takes substantial pressure on the top portion of the rocker switch to raise it to the trailering position.

It would be better, I think, if it had a separate trailer switch but it doesn't. So, the trick is just to make sure, when raising the outdrive for shallow water, etc. is not to push it twice, only once. There is a substantial difference in the pressure required to operate the switch to move from the trim mode to the trailering mode.

Thanks to all who replied.
 
Good to hear that you have it figured out. Sounds like it has the identical two position "up" rocker switch as my 2005 gen 2.
 
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