power trim issue

Was out fishing the other day and my power trim quit working. Would not go up, but would go down. When I started the motor and put it into gear it worked like a champ the rest of the day. So went again yesterday, got to the ramp and the trim would not work, so pulled cowling to look around and it began to work again. Thought I may have a loose wire, but did not see anything. Put the boat in and started it up everything is fine. Pull the boat out and as soon as I shut off motor nothing. Start it up again and put it in gear and trim works. At home I checked for power to trim motor and it shows that it is getting power. Strange. Anyone had an issue like this or have any ideas what may cause it? Thanks.

More than likely, you have EITHER a failing trim relay, OR a failing trim motor.

I would recommend replacing BOTH trim relays (these are the two FORWARD relays... there are three in a row on the Starboard Side of the engine).

Part# 882751A1

If the problem persists.... trim motor may need to be replaced.

Thanks for the input. I will change them out

My power trim motor went out last week on my 225 Optimax. Same thing . drove 100 miles to a lake and the motor wouldn't budge . If you unplug the bullet bullets leads (a green and a blue one) off the trim motor after it enters the bottom of the cowling and hook them up to a 12v battery the motor will move if its still good. IF it doesn't.... reverse the polarity on them and if it only moves in one direction then either your 'up' or 'down' relay is gone. If it doesn't move in either direction chances are its your trim motor, because both relays going out at the same time is possible but not likely. The dealer wanted 350 bucks for mine, but I bought it from a dude on eBay named caltric. its the 2nd thing I bought from him and he's great. he only charged me 95 bucks including shipping and had it here in 2 days. I also bought the entire 600 page optimax service manual in pdf form on Ebay for a buck. That was the best dollar I ever spent
Hope this helps
Ray

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by abassjihad &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I also bought the entire... pdf ... on Ebay for a buck. That was the best dollar I ever spent...</td></tr></table>

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif

***UPDATE***
Found out that trim will only work when the motor is in gear, on or off. Must have an issue with a wire behind the gear shift or something similiar. Interesting. Going in to see if I can find the problem. Don, anything that I should be careful of or that I should look for?

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by tywebb &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">***UPDATE***
Found out that trim will only work when the motor is in gear, on or off. Must have an issue with a wire behind the gear shift or something similiar. Interesting. Going in to see if I can find the problem. Don, anything that I should be careful of or that I should look for?</td></tr></table>

Double check to make sure that the COWLING MOUNTED TRIM SWITCH isn't working. It should be UNAFFECTED by gear position under all "normal" circumstances.

If the cowl-mounted switch works ALL the time, and the HANDLE MOUNTED switch works only "in gear"- check the wiring between the handle-mounted switch and the engine wiring harness (at the dash). There is likely a damaged wire (perhaps the RED or RED w/Purple Stripe wire). http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Nope, the switch on the engine only works when the motor is in gear also. But there is a caviat... all will work sometimes(front deck, steering wheel etc.) normally. It is just random when the will work out of gear. One item of interest, all of this started after the up trim on the gear shift quit working.

Just had my trim pump motor replaced yesterday it did the same thing. I have a 250xs that I bought in 06. If you tap on the trim motor very lightly it will probably start working. However I would replace the trim motor ASAP, they ain't cheap. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by tywebb &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Nope, the switch on the engine only works when the motor is in gear also. But there is a caviat... all will work sometimes(front deck, steering wheel etc.) normally. It is just random when the will work out of gear. One item of interest, all of this started after the up trim on the gear shift quit working.</td></tr></table>

This is likely a "fluke" (just happened, by luck of the draw, to work out that way). I would (as suggested above) be looking at the trim MOTOR, or possibly the trim relays (and their harness connections- especially the GROUND and POWER connections).