Power Trims Problems - 75 Mercury ELPTO

[JJMONIE]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and would like some help. I have a 2001 Bass Tracker with a 2002 75 Mercury ELPTO. Today, when I got home the battery was dead and the motor was trimmed all the way up. After I charged the battery and moved the trim down, it started making it's way back up again until I disconnected the battery. I have 3 places where I can trim the motor from, 1 at the front of the boat, 1 at the console and 1 locatated on the motor itself. I tried disconnecting the trim switch at the front and it still did it. Any help please would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
JJ

 

[Chris]

Welcome to the forum JJ.

Does your motor also have a trim switch on the side of the cowel?

-Chris

 

[JJMONIE]

Thanks. Yes it does, 3 in total.

JJ

 

[Chris]

I guess what I would try is disconnecting each switch and see if that stops it.

 

[JJMONIE]

Thanks Chris, how do you get at the switch that is on the handle?

JJ

 

[Chris]

It would most likely depend on what type of control set up you have.

What do you have the complete set up with the throttle/starter switch and trim on the handle?

Some of the units that are all in one, have a plug in harness. You might be able to just pull the harness and see what happens.

-Chris

 

[JJMONIE]

Thanks again Chris! Yes it is an all in one unit, throttle and trim switch handle. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Pretty sure that's where the problem was because when the trim kept trying to go up the other 2 switches did nothing and when I played around with the one on the throttle, it finally stopped.

JJ

 

[Chris]

JJ,

I had the same issue myself awhile back.

I played around with the switch on the side of the cowel and that was the one that was stuck. It didn't appear stuck, but my assumption was it was corroded inside causing it to be more or less stuck on.

That particular one because of where it is, gets prone to getting splashed on and gets a bit corroded. So I just worked it up and down a number of times and the pump quit running.

At any rate, the first place to try is the actual switches, if it isn't those then you need to look at the triggers on the motor or the solenoids. The parts involved will vary a bit by year. To check those things, you'll be needing a multimeter and a good service manual. If you decide to go that route, be careful as touching the wrong wires can burn stuff out pretty quick, or give you a nice zap.

For safety, I would disconnect the battery while you're playing around with the switches, again so you don't burn something up or give yourself a zap. And I always assume the motor may try to start so I stay away from the prop and keep away from the moving parts like the flywheel as one example. Pulling the plug wires is always a good idea too as that will keep the motor from actually starting if it starts to turn over for some reason.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[JJMONIE]

Thanks Chris for all the help. Sorry I did not get back sooner. I did fix the problem after calling around a few places. It ended up being the toggle switch at the front of the boat. It did not cost muuch and the guy at City Marine was really helpful!

Funny, the guy who actually sold me the boat was convinced it was the trim assembly without even looking at it. He wanted like 800 to fix it.

Lucky for forums like this one where you can get honest opinions from people. Thanks again!

Jim

 

[Chris]

I'm glad to hear you got it fixed up Jim!

Now that you're up and running again, you should take some pics of her running and load them up in our gallery.

We'd like to see them.

-Chris