OPTIMAX Power Trim Tilt

[CJL]

Hi guys

I`m after some advice on the PTT on my boat.

I was up on Gratham Water the other weekend and my PTT started to misbehave in that it would only ocassionally work either up or down. This fault was similar on the throttle box and on the engine switch.

Doing a bit of fault diagnosis the switch on the side of the engine is getting power and you can hear both the up and down solinoids clicking. I`ve then followed the cabling down to the engine/transom clamp and to the T shaped connector on the port side of the engine leg. This connector I think seems to be a switch which opens the hydraulic valve. However where the cable goes into this fitting/switch the inner two core cable is visable, ie the outer shielding has moved down the two insulation covered wires. Water has been getting in here and I`ve dried it out but still no joy. I`ve got plenty of juice in the batteries and never had any problems with it before.

Can anybody give me some advice?


Cheers

Chris

[Mark Halliday]

Might sound silly, but have you checked the level of the hydraulic fluid?
You could just be low on oil.

[Alan]

I had problems with a 150 Opti in 2002 - Basically when you trimmed the engine up it would not stay up whilst running along at speed and trimmed itself back down. Bl**dy annoying. Had the hydraulic trim rebuilt under warranty although it needed 2 visits to Mercury dealer to fix IIRC.

[swginn]

What year is the engine. The Power Trim Tilt was a common problem on some Optimaxs but I believe its sorted now. There are a few people in my area who've had to get their PTT units replaced under warranty. Bring it to your dealer. He should fix it under warranty.

[CJL]

Mark, Alan, Swginn,

Thanks for your advice. The Engine is `02 and the still under warranty. I`m try to see if its something simple which will save me the hassle of visiting the dealer, plus I`d like to use my boat this season!

The hydraulic oil level i`m assuming is OK. I will check tonight but I`ve not seen any evidence of leaks anywhere.

Alan, - in my manual it states if the Engine is in the TILT mode and you accelerate it is designed to return back down to the top of the TRIM mode. (Mercury speak for the TILT ram is not man enough for the job!)

Thanks for your help

[Alan]

Originally Posted by CJL

Alan, - in my manual it states if the Engine is in the TILT mode and you accelerate it is designed to return back down to the top of the TRIM mode. (Mercury speak for the TILT ram is not man enough for the job!)

Thanks for your help

Yeah I know that. Our problem was with trim i.e. trim the engine out to get best performance from the boat and it would very quickly return to the fully trimmed in and bow down position. This was on a BWM DS21 which needed trimming up for best performance.

[Paul F]

Not to get to technical,but get a meter and make sure that volts are going to the PTT motor off of each relay in turn. If you are getting volts and oil level correct as mentioned earlier,then its back to dealer. If nil volts on one relay or intermitant on one then it could be a duff relay.
Paul

[CJL]

hi there, just got in and checked the hydraulic fluid. unfortunately is topped off nicely.
To make matters worse my warranty ended in feb this year!
Anybody got any other ideas of what is wrong with the
system?
Chris.

[DJL]

I'd give your dealer a ring and see if they will still honour the warranty being that it’s only a few months since it ended. It sounds like your going to need something replaced, even if it’s just a relay. Probably worth a phone call.

Otherwise you just need to be very methodical in testing the wiring. You should be able to pin point the faulty component fairly easily.

[Paul F]

CJL
As mentioned have a word with your dealer. If that isnt looking good PM me before booking in on a non warranty and will see if i can guide you through it.
Paul