I have 1997 Johnson 225 Venom on the back of a Viper. Boat was under the cover parked at the house, came home and the trim was buzzing....trim motor was hot to the touch. Now the trim goes up and down and you can't stop it...it jerks etc. Is this a problem with the switch? And also do you think the trim motor needs replacement? I have had an over the phone bid of $1,200 to fix it...is that about right?
Jon Gray
Welcome to the boards Jon,
Rule #1 is model year and serial number, but I'll try and help you out. On the port side of the motor under the starter, You will see a plastic cover, remove this cover and you will see several harnesses on a bracket. Disconnect the harness that has the following wires on it white with tan trace, red with white trace, blue with white trace, green with white trace and black with white trace. This is your trim in from the boat. You will also notice 3 similar red, blue and green wires with bullet connectors on them, they are from your trim switch on your motor. With the harness disconnected see if the motor goes crazy, if not then you have a problem with one of the switches in the hull either bow mount, shift mount or steering wheel mount. If it continues to go crazy then disconnect the 3 wires from the motor trim switch. If it stops then that switch is bad and needs to be replaced. You can verify the motors integrity by following the motors harness up from the swivel bracket (Blue and Green wires) and disconnect them at the motor. Apply 12 volts to one side of the wire either blue or green and negative to the other it will either go up or down, then reverse the wires and it will go in the other direction. If it will not then you will have to pull the motor off and take it to an Alternator repair shop to see if they can fix it. If they cannot you can get an aftermarket motor or get a new one from BRP and you will have to bleed the system. Keep your fingers crossed it is just a bad switch.
Good luck.
i,m not a pro on this issue but i had the same problem on a 1993 ranger492vs with a 200 johnson. sometimes the ghost would show up running down the lake. problem finally found : bare wires at shifter trim switch from normal wear. i pulled the cover off the shifter and used liquid tape to put the ghost to rest.
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