Trojan Boat Forum

I have a quick question, my portside stern drive won't go down it'll go up but not down. is it the motor that I have to change or ?? any feedback is appriciated.

Merc or Volvo?

Does the hydraulic pump motor even run?

Might be low on hydraulic fluid - or "stiff" if it has sat for a while. Try standing on the unit and have someone press the "down" button. If that works - run it up and down sevreral times to loosen it up.

If its in the water - clean the barnacles off f the shafts 1st.

its Merc and I checked the fluid is full, and also clean the barnacles. it went up but won't go down. how can I make sure is not the motor?

thanks

I'm not sure what year unit you have but they pretty much all operate on the same principal.

Up and down motion of the drive is achived reversing the direction of rotation of the 12V motor on the top of the pump. There are 2 electric solenoids mounted on the outside of the pump that control the direction of the motor. If the motor runs in the up direction but not in the down direction, check the down solenoid to make sure it's working. You should be able to hear or feel it "click" when the down button is pushed. If not, using a 12V tester check for power from the down button at the helm when the button is pushed and for main power on one side of the solenoid. (one of the 2 large wires at the solenoid) If no power is present at one of these locations, check for a short or break in the wiring and switch. If power is present at both and the solenoid does not "click", it's probably bad. You can confirm this by crossing the two large wire connections on the solenoid with a jumper wire. This will bypass the solenoid and make the motor run.

If the motor & soleniods are working fine, then you need to look at the hydraulic end of the trim unit. The pump and three position valve are housed in the bottom plate of the resevoir. Again direction of rotation control's up and down. The spool in the valve is shifted for up or down by pilot pressure created by the pump. Any contamination of the oil in this system (such as pieces of worn "O" rings) can cause the spool to stick. To repair this means to dissasemble, clean and rebuild the pump/valve assembly without loosing any of the little check balls. Or you can purchase a new pump/valve assembly.

Hope this helps
Paul
Cruise Control

Thank you very much indeed!!! I will check the salnoids. the sterndrive is 1987 alpha 1 Merc

Stefano

Quicker check ...

Do you hear the hydraulic pump running when you push the down button?

I pushed the button but never knew that I should listen for click or something like that

thanks Paul and rossjo foer the all the help

Have someone press the button, and you can stand by the pump unit.

You might hear the solenoid clikc, but you shoudl hear (or not if its broken) the pump motor - exactly the same sound you hear when it goes up.

Thanks rossjo!! if it is the solenoid do they sale separately or I have to buy the motor plus solenoid

Stefano

yes - you can get the solenoid separate.

Thanks

Stefano

Mine did the same thing recently...turned out to be a bad connection on one of the wires at the switch.

I wuill check the connection too.
Thanks
Stefano