Trim went out…Need Help

[AdamBaldwin04]

I have a 2018 Phoenix 21 PHX with 2018 250 2-stroke Merc. I lost all trim at bow, blinker, and gear shift but trim works on the motor itself. I’ve tried tracking wires from each but don’t see a problem. Haven’t not found a fuse yet either. Guy at Phoenix mentioned something about the wiring harness on motor. Anyone have any insight where to look???

[bhjr.]

Assuming that I'm reading your issue correctly, you only have control on the motor, right? If my assumption is correct, I would check for voltage on the red wire at any one of the three switches inside the hull. The red(hot) wire is the one wire that would shut down all the switches within the hull. You should have three wires at each of these switches. Most of the time the three wires are red(hot), green(down), and blue(up). If I'm not mistaken, all three of these switches in the hull should be sharing the same circuit on the red wire at each switch. If you have no power at any one switch, you need to look for the fuse or breaker powering this circuit. I'm fairly certain that the switch on the motor is independent of the circuit powering the switches in the hull. Good luck! If I'm not right, someone will be along to correct me and help you out.

[fynns]

Easy to trouble shoot, use DVOM and just ohm the circuit out. Just wires. You have already determined that relays and motor switch are good. Dont make it hard.

[JOE54]

^^^^^^^ verify voltage from control /boat harness at 14 pin connector

[bhjr.]

Just curious, did you resolve your issue? Feedback helps us all.

[EuropeanAM]

+1

Also... Just as a reminder: Please be sure to provide the Required Info (serial number) when posting. Thanks!

[lpugh]

Easy to trouble shoot, use DVOM and just ohm the circuit out. Just wires. You have already determined that relays and motor switch are good. Dont make it hard.

This is job for a voltmeter, not ohms

[fynns]

I can trouble shoot it alot faster with a ohm meter than a volt meter. But you use what you think is best in this situation.

[JOE54]

interesting please elaborate

[FeFanatic]

Most boats have the front switches, shift switches and blinker trim switches bridged under the dash. My guess is your factory connections were good but the blinker switch was added after production. If that's the case I would look there first. I'd bet that when t he blinker switch was installed the connections weren't properly done and a wire came loose from a crimped connection.

[lpugh]

I can trouble shoot it alot faster with a ohm meter than a volt meter. But you use what you think is best in this situation.

No you can not. Been doing advanced electrial work for over 50years, voltage drop test are faster and far more accurate

[EuropeanAM]

I'm curious myself. Sure: I can test a switch, a ground, an individual circuit for continuity or short, or even perhaps windings with an ohm meter- but those tests almost ALWAYS are identified as necessary because of no (or inadequate) VOLTAGE at a particular point in the circuit.

But curious because I might learn something....

[lpugh]

For accurate test the circuit must have a load on it:
Use this for an extreme example: A battery cable has only two strands of wire that still have a circuit, all the rest are broken or no longer provide a connection. An ohm test may show no resistance or very low resistance 1 ohm or less, Do you think it will start the motor?

Another good example is to measure the ohms across a taillight bulb, say it is 1 ohm for easy math that that bulb would flow 12 amps of current (not possible). But I measure the current flow and find 2 amps of current. 12 divided by by 2 = 6 ohms, why the difference. It is heat from resistance which caused the resistance to increase dramatically.
Ohmmeters will not evaluate the condition of a circuit that carries a load accurately.
There is time and place for both methods of testing,
Voltage drop is of the highest priority for any loaded circuit.

[DewRonInc]

Yup voltage drop is key

[JOE54]

agree ^^^^^^

[FeFanatic]

The problem is the switch can show continuity when checked with a ohm meter but may not be capable of passing a current. I just troubleshot a circuit board in a '14 Entegra motorcoach. It has an electronic panel that controls a main power board with relays built on the board to turn on lights, fans, and other interior accessories. We found a relay that wouldn't pass current when the controller commanded it on. It had 12 volts but the lights didn't work. So, we disconnected the load from the suspect relay and tested against a standard bulb. It would not light the bulb. We decided to test a external relay and found that the on board relay would trigger the external one. So, we routed the load through the external relay, triggered the external relay with the internal one, and was able to make the lights function again. Why did we do this? Well, that board with relays is no longer available. Nowhere can it be found. Even if we found a new board the company manufactured it isn't in business anymore and we had no way of programming it.

The end result is we found the relay on the control board would not pass enough current to light any bulbs but could power a relay that we could redirect the load to. It may work 6 months, it may work 6 years, it may work forever, or it may fail tomorrow. All we are out is a little time and the cost of a relay.

Relay/swtich=same thing.