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Hi,

I was on the water yesterday and the power trim stopped working when I brought my boat in to trailer out. It was functioning when i launched it earlier in the day. To get the motor up, I had to short the solenoid with a screw driver. Any ideas on why it stopped working? The switch wasn't responsive with up or down. I'm thinking there might be an issue with the switch itself or the connection inside the console.

Thanks,

Gordon

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When a Mercury power trim doesn't work in either direction, there's not much it could be. That rules out both a trim swtich or a solenoid, since in that case it would still work in one direction or the other.

So, your problem must be:

1. blown 20 amp fuse in the system - if so you should find out why it tripped.

2. power trim harness unpluged

3. Dead trim motor.

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Gordon -

Please clarify your statement.

To tilt the motor you jumped the solenoid and that made it work?

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If you jumped the solenoid then you ruled out the motor but not the solenoid or switch. Check the switch, connections and as stated the fuse.

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I bridged the connection on the "up" solenoid with the shaft of a screwdriver. The trim then functioned properly.

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I know how to check the connections and fuse, but how do I check the switch? Do I need to remove the throttle lever? The button is located on top of the throttle lever.

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If your Mercury control is the same generation as the engine, I assume it looks like the control on this boat:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v42...G_0914.jpg

If you have isolated the problem to be the switch, it is easy to replace and readily available from Mercury. Simply pry out the top round retainer, and you can pull the switch out far enough to unplug the three wires which have very small spade connectors. Plug in the new switch, push the wires and switch back in, and re-install the retainer.

The only reason to remove the handle from the control box shaft would be to pull in a little extra wire if there is not enough to get the switch loose at the top.

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Yep that's the one. I'll do some investigating and report back.

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I just went to try and fix the issue and the power trim started working by itself. I didn't do anything. Any thoughts on what may have happened?

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I also want to mention that I just replaced the stator. Could that have anything to do with the odd power outage? I had the boat on the water 4 times with the new stator before this happened.