Mercruiser Tilt/Trim Gauge always shows UP

[Andrew A. Benson]

Greetings,

I've got an 18-foot 1980 century with a Mercruiser 470 I/O.
The power tilt/trim works fine, but the gauge on the dash, which is
supposed to show the trim position, always shows all the way UP.

Any ideas of where to begin looking to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Andrew.

[kelly morrison]

In article <35B4D0...@arbitrade.com>, andre...@arbitrade.com says...

Ignore the gauge .Trim you r leg out till the prop cavitates,then trim in
just a bit till it stops.you will achieve max. RPM,speed,and economy.
don't spend anything on this system (idiot gauge).THe trouble is most likely
at the leg.

[Boatdoctr]

If you would like to know where your drive is as most people do, start by
checking the trim sending unit. It is on the starboard side of the drive at
the pivot pin. Either the pivot pin has loosened up or the sender or sender
wires have failed.

Brian
B & D Marine
El Monte, Ca.

[l...@/dev/null.hsh.com]

Boatdoctr <boat...@aol.com> wrote:
: If you would like to know where your drive is as most people do, start by

Just replaced mine on an 1980 Wellcraft. Mercury only sells the indicator
and limiter as a set now, runs about $70. Replacing them is a bitch.
Pull off the gimbal, try to loosen up the 2 7/16" ss bolts that the wires
run through, replace hinge bolts, friction washers, worn bellows.

In my case I couldn't get the hinge bolts out (didn't have the special tool),
so I brought it to the local marina to do it. They got the bolts out and
found a hole corroded through the transom plate. They wanted $1000 to fix
it (price includes a used plate). I plan on sandblasting the hole and
filling it with a good epoxy.
Hopefully this will last me a few years :-)

--
-----

remove the /dev/null before replying
Lee Havemann, Comp Ops Dir. HSH Associates (973) 838-3330
Mailto: lee at hsh dot com http://www.hsh.com
"My opinions are probably not those of my employer"

[Charlie Dwenger]

Andrew,
A good place to start would be on the trim sender unit on the outdrive
piviot. I think (not sure) that it is on the left side as you`re standing
behind the boat, facing the bow. It is around 2 inches diameter with 2
screws in adjustment slots. It will also have 2 wires running from it.
Remove the two screws (take note of the screw locations) & the two wires
under the grease & wipe clean. At the two post where the wires connect,
hook an ohm meter up & turn the hex in the center of the unit while holding
the outer shell from moving.
You should get a variable reading as you slowly turn the hex. If you
don`t get any or a sharp "nothing to full scale" it could be a bad unit.
If you get a "nothing to full scale" then "nothing" again, you might have
removed the trim limit switch by mistake. If this happend, replace the unit
in reverse order,(taking note of the adjustment-screw locations) & check
the other side piviot. Always cover the wires & screws with a heavy
coating of grease when reassembling
They are marked on the housing, but I forget what the markings should
read. Better check with your service dept. before removing the wrong side.

Good luck
Charlie

I didn`t do it.
Nobody saw me do it.
You can`t prove anything!

Andrew A. Benson <andre...@arbitrade.com> wrote in article
<35B4D0...@arbitrade.com>...

[William Parks]

I agree with Kelly

Take a set of dikes; cut the wires, disconnect from the inside and forget
the damned thing. Merc trim tilt gages fall under the category of
"worthless doodads designed to impress the unaware boater". I love my merc
drives but the trim tilt gage is garbage. Do however keep the little screws
well greased if you're in salt water. Occasionally you'll need to pull the
hinge pins to change the U-boot and those little screws can seize up and
snap off. When you do change the u-boots make sure you grease the hinge
pins as well.

Bill

Andrew A. Benson wrote in message <35B4D0...@arbitrade.com>...

[frank1492]

On 4 Aug 1998 02:40:50 GMT, "William Parks"
<bert...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

Guess what? The Cobra has similar design problems. I gave up on
mine.
>

[dmcnei...@gmail.com]

Where should the trim guage sit with out drive fully down on mercruiser 3.0 petrol with alpha 2 sterndrive and new tilt and switch senders fitted

[gfre...@aol.com]

On Tue, 4 Aug 2020 02:35:02 -0700 (PDT), dmcnei...@gmail.com wrote:

>Where should the trim guage sit with out drive fully down on mercruiser 3.0 petrol with alpha 2 sterndrive and new tilt and switch senders fitted

You need a meter. Check the sender, then check it at the gauge. There
is probably a short or open in the wire. I am not sure what "up" is on
the pot. You can test the gauge with a 200 ohm pot and a 33 ohm
resistor in series. That should sweep the gauge end to end if they
conform to the normal standard (~33-230). Connect ground and the input
through your resistor pot assembly.

[Justan]

Once installed, they need to be adjusted.

[The Official Marine King]

On Tuesday, July 21, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Andrew A. Benson wrote:
> Greetings,
> I've got an 18-foot 1980 century with a Mercruiser 470 I/O.
> The power tilt/trim works fine, but the gauge on the dash, which is
> supposed to show the trim position, always shows all the way UP.
> Any ideas of where to begin looking to fix this problem?
> Thanks,
> Andrew.

Hey andrew
you can check out these resources on boat gauges lots of info to digest
https://themarineking.com/blogs/news/digital-boat-gauges