Johnson fast strike power trim/tilt issue

[Fish21]

My 1997 Johnson fast strike (J150GLEUC) is having an issue with the motor randomly trimming up on its own. It will continue to stay on even when it’s all the way up, you can here the sound of the motor still going. The only way to make it stop is to use the trim down switch at the bow of the boat, if I try to trim down from the shifter or the motor itself it won’t do anything. So I actually have everything disconnected from my cranking battery now so it doesn’t randomly keep happening which it was doing even in my garage. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[ChampioNman]

chaffed or shorted out wire at the shifter. Pull the handle off, need to remove the nylon push button and then loosen the set screw that is under the recess on the bottom side of the handle then it will come off.

[Fish21]

So I took it apart and it seems to have stopped the issue. Didn’t really see any chaffed wires. Thinking of getting a new trim switch while I’m at it. Any idea what model I would need? Thanks.

[316jughead]

Your bow switch could be the problem. That's why it will stop the motor or trim down, it could be shorting out on the up.

[ChampioNman]

You can get a new cover and switch along with the harness from www.boats.net part number 0176530.

[Nightmare]

Your bow switch could be the problem. That's why it will stop the motor or trim down, it could be shorting out on the up.

Had that before. Don't know if it was corrosion or switch gone bad. Went thru system and found if disconnected that switch, the thing quit going crazy (up, in my case, just sitting at the dock). Swapped out switch and life was good again. Just gotta eliminate possibilities...if you have a turn-signal style, probably got 4 different switches to check.

[ChampioNman]

Unplug the red wire on the bow trim and see if it stops.

[Fish21]

I’m bringing this issue back up because the same exact thing happened today. When I got to the boat the motor was trimmed all the way up and the cranking battery was weak, I’m assuming from randomly happening all night long. It randomly trims up on its own and only way to stop is use the trim down switch at the bow. It continued to happen during my trip this morning. It ran perfectly fine last night. When I brought this up back in October I replaced both the trim switch at the shifter and at the bow and the issue never happened again till today (9 months later). Where else should I be checking? Thanks.

[316jughead]

Check the bow switch, a lot of things can happen in 9 months. Best thing to do is to install a master power switch that turns off all of the boat accessories. I use an automobile ignition switch, cheap and comes with a key.

[ChampioNman]

Do you have a switch on the steering wheel? Check that, unplug the motor switch that's easy.

[Fish21]

Looks like the bow switch went bad again. I unplugged it and the issue stopped. Looks like it had some corrosion.

[316jughead]

If it's a toggle switch there are rubber boots you can install over the toggle. If it's rocker switch, some come with a rubber gasket that helps water proof the switch. Install that master switch, then nothing like that will happen when your not at the boat.