Out drive tilt

[Humble Pie]

My partner took the B.O.A.T. out himself the other day and said the outdrive went down about 3/4 of the way and then wouldnt work....not up or down.

Went to take a look see to assess the problem...it didnt work...jiggled some wires in the engine compartment, all contacts are clean etc etc.

Now it works, not sure what I did,spent time on the boat cleaning and installing a new bilge pump, periodically raised and lowered the out drive, over a 2 hour time period. So now baffled as to what the problem could be...to get intermitant operation.

OMC 302 with OMC outdrive

Any thoughts?

[furniture 4 me]

sounds like a bad connection or a solenoid going out

[Luhr'd Away]

There is also a large inline fuse, I believe 50amp, that may be going. I had the same proble at Casitas with and OMC outdrive. We were able to use a screw driver and jump the positive and negative to get it working until the problem was found.

[MATTANZA]

lose connection start at the trottle and work back.

[Roll the Bones]

Had problem myself on my mercruiser 350. The brushes on the Pump motor were corroded and it would stop working at the darndest times. Just tapped it with a screwdriver handle and it would work perfectly. Finally replaced the pump motor because my wife didnt like riding in the bilge and tapping the trim pump at high speeds!

[bigbobnhb]

two words "ground Wire"....make sure its clean.

[Humble Pie]

Last two times out no problemo....one of those little boat gremlins messin with me

[daluvian]

Sounds like a ground wire to me, Double check your grounds.

If not i am sure you could clean the motor and the brushes if thats the case. You'd be amazed what a electric motor can go threw. What i'd do if it was the brushes and there is a way to take the MOTOR APART, not sure if you can or not. If the case is sealed, try and see if you can loosen it enough for brake clean to squeeze threw. I would first drip the motor in brake cleaner, like jar, or small bucket, While the motor is running, you dip it running, and let it run for a min or so in the brake cleaner, hold the motor by the wires. The brake cleaner should be blacker then hell when done. Then try and remove the brushes and clean with extremely fine sand paper but i'd use a brush cleaning tool avilable at hobby stores and careful not to distrub the shape of the brush , or just replace them if possible. You can clean the contacts on the motor also with the brush cleaning tool. Put back together and lube the bushings thats the motor rides on should be 2. I'd use some high quaility electric motor lube on the bushing.. Its should be easy to do if your motor is rebuildable . I'd try it before i'd replace it if thats the case. It also can be a slight fire hazard so choose a smart place to do it, and allow the motor to dry out completely before reinstalling. Also ONLY USE ON BATTERY POWERED motors people.

[AquaHunter]

Dan, I'll be glad to look at it for you if you want if you're local

[Dirtguy]

I would NOT dip it running!! One arc from the brushes in an explosive environment, (like brake clean vapors!)!!!

Never get an electrical component lit or arcing near a combustible!!!

dg

[mongo75]

Well you could safely dip it, then turn it one, no sparks will come out in the liquid, and it still should run. Yeah it sounds crazy, but I'd try it if I had to.

[daluvian]

Trust me it not like its going to blow. done it plenty of times with no problems, worest thing that can happen is a small flame, never had that. Tons of people pratice this daily with r/c motors due to the high dust, and when replacing brushes. inless you plan on bathing yourself in brake clean and you do it in a safe location, you should be fine. Smarter to have it running first because the motor likes to twist when its first hooked up, doing this avoids spillage.