outdrive will not lower


C

cgraham

Guest
Hi folks,
I purchased a 1999 Formula 232BR from a dealer. I didn’t get to touch the boat for a full year due to my schedule. I recently had the boat serviced since it sat for a year and was assured that everything was working fine once the shop had completed their tune-ups. I put the boat in the water today but was not able to get the outdrive to lower. I did notice that it had been raised to the very highest position which I didn’t think was a good idea. I unfortunately did not verify that everything was working correctly before I retrieved the boat from the shop who serviced it. Do you have any thoughts as to where the problem lies? Also, I can’t really go back to the service shop because I have moved to another state many hours away.
 
A Sterndrives are supposed to be stored with the leg down. This apparently prevents the exhaust bellows from taking a curved and then failing when the leg is lowered.
This is what my mechanic sed
Process of elimination is your battery fully charged? Do you have power to the pump, check the oil level in the pump reservoir, bypass the sterndrive rocker switch and jump the control terminals on your pump
 
Does the trim pump run, but the drive won't lower???

Frequently, when an outdrive is put up at the highest position it gets stuck and needs a little bit of persuasion to free it up so that it will lower. Sometimes the force of engaging the prop once in the water can do the trick, other times you have to stand on the outdrive.
 
Which toggle are you using to try and lower the drive? The toggle on the throttle/shifter or the toggle that is used to put the drive into trailer position? The reason I ask is that the toggle that is used to put the drive into trailer position is not wired to put the drive down - only up. You need to use the shifter mounted switch to put the drive down.
 
If you hear the hydraulic pump making noise when you press the trim up and do not hear a noise when you press the trim down, it is probably a relay. There are normally two of them. One relay for up the other for down. If you can locate them and swap them you can put the drive down and you will know the relay is bad. As the previous posters said. We need a little more information to provide more adequate advice.
 
Outdrive won't lower.

tpenfield said:
Does the trim pump run, but the drive won't lower???

Frequently, when an outdrive is put up at the highest position it gets stuck and needs a little bit of persuasion to free it up so that it will lower. Sometimes the force of engaging the prop once in the water can do the trick, other times you have to stand on the outdrive.
Click to expand...

ThanksTed. I'll try that. Will let you know what happens.
 
Outdrive won't lower

gustaf said:
Which toggle are you using to try and lower the drive? The toggle on the throttle/shifter or the toggle that is used to put the drive into trailer position? The reason I ask is that the toggle that is used to put the drive into trailer position is not wired to put the drive down - only up. You need to use the shifter mounted switch to put the drive down.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gustaf. Good to know that. I was using the switch located on the throttle lever but did not hear anything.
 
Outdrive won't lower

Sungam said:
If you hear the hydraulic pump making noise when you press the trim up and do not hear a noise when you press the trim down, it is probably a relay. There are normally two of them. One relay for up the other for down. If you can locate them and swap them you can put the drive down and you will know the relay is bad. As the previous posters said. We need a little more information to provide more adequate advice.
Click to expand...

Sungam, great suggestion. I will see if I can locate those relays and swap them as you have suggested. Since the outdrive was left by the service technician all the way up, I'm not hearing anything when I hit either the up or the down swithch for the outdrive.
 
If your not hearing anything up or down, you will obviously have to try replacing both of the relays or at least start with one and see what happens. Best of luck!
 
I had this issue when replacing an outdrive this summer. I had put the port drive up to look at weeds fouling my prop and could not get it down. There was no pump noise (I could tell the difference as I raised and lowered the other starboard engine). I t was the relay and oddly it was a case of very securely snapping it together (it took a technician to figure this out for me as the connection looked ok to my inexperienced eye. As suggested, likely cause is a relay.
 
Sometimes you can tap on the solenoid with a small hammer while someone is pressing the button and you can get them unstuck

Mark
 
Outdrive won't lower

As it turned out, a different mechanic discovered that the battery cables to the second battery were crossed. Once they were placed on the correct terminals, the outdrive worked fine. Thanks again.
 
The up and down solenoids for the drive are both on the reservoir. One above the other. You can hear them click with the engines off and someone operating the tilt/trim. You can test them by using a jumper across the solenoid. (make sure you use a large enough wire gauge, 12awg or 10awg).
 
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