Trim & Tilt Problem

Again as I dip into this very deep pool of knowledge strong feelings of gratitude and anticipation abound,

My trim and tilt on the 40hp Evinrude Modal # E40PL4EE wont drop down, I had her out on the water a few times this week and noticed that every now and then I would have to push the button a couple of times to raise or drop the engine as I was travelling along,

Yesterday as I prepared for another trip out I found it wouldn’t drop the engine no matter how many times I tried,

I went and tried the tilt button at the side of the engine casing and could hear a click on the downward press of the button…. On the upward press I could occasionally hear a faint sound of the motor trying to push the engine higher,

I have tried a few searches on Google and found out a couple of things… first thing was the clicking sound is coming from the relay switches and these can get dirty so may need a clean so I followed the blue “up” and the green “down” wires in the hope of finding the relays but they seem to end at a 8x4x1inch black box… is this the relay box ?

If it is can I just disconnect the fitting and clean the contact points on it in the hope of a quick fix ?

Can anyone tell me anything else that may be causing this problem

I also found out that there is a screw / nut somewhere on the tilt unit that will drop the engine when turned ½ to 1 turn… I presume this works like a car trolley jack in the case of it being turned slowly will in turn drop the engine,
The thing with this is I don’t know what screw to turn on the tilt jack…

I should add that this problem with the leg not going down did happen once before - about 2 months ago I found it stuck up and all I could think of doing is to keep pressing the button till it dropped, after a few prayers and 30+ times hitting the button it went down,

At the time I put it down to the fact that the boat hadn’t been used for sometime before I bought it so things might need working a bit before they came right,

In anticipation of your kind help I thank you

Have you checked the hydraulic oil level? when it goes low the rams have trouble moving.
Also be carefull not to damage the screw when releasing the tilt as they can be a bit stubborn and if head worn out its an even bigger problem get a new screw because there is a valve on the inside of them.

There's a little info here:
http://www.boatpartsinfo.com/2011/05/re ... t-systems/

Troubleshooting Power Trim and Tilt Motors and Pumps 326 Comments

Tilt and Trim Motor

Replacing Power Trim and Tilt Systems
When replacing your Power Tilt and Trim Motor, first identify what type of Power Tilt and Trim Motor and Pump you have in your boat. There are two basic types of power Trim and Tilt Systems being used in the recreational Boating industry regardless of weather you have an Outboard, Inboard or a Sterndrive.

Some of the older Power Tilt and Trim Systems used an Electric Tilt Motor in combination with a mechanical lifting device. For example, Volvo Penta used a 12-Volt Power Tilt Motor turning a lifting screw on their older Stern Drives. On older OMC Stern Drives, an electric Motor turned a Worm Gear and incorporated a wet clutch pack to Tilt the drive unit as well as lock it into place. The Electric Hydraulic power Trim and Tilt System is more common. This type of system is used on Johnson and Evinrude Outboards, Mercruiser Stern Drives, Mercury Outboards and Volvo Penta Stern Drives. This system consists of two major components; the 12 volt electric Motor with a reservoir, and the Hydraulic Pump or Valve Body.

Trouble Shooting Your Power Trim and Tilt System
When experiencing problems with your power Trim and Tilt System, there are a few easy ways to diagnose just what the problem is. Power Trim Motors generally come in two styles. All use a 12 volt D/C reversing Motor. Some Motors have a two wire connection and some Motors have a three wire connection. All power Trim and Tilt Motors come with one blue wire and one green wire. The three wire power Trim and Tilt Motors have an additional Black wire as well. The Black wire works as a Ground on power Trim and Tilt Motors that don’t ground thru the case. When the blue wire is energized it raises the Motor or drive unit up. When the green wire is energized it lowers the drive unit down.

When having a problem first you need to determine weather your problem is with the power Trim and Tilt Motor or the Hydraulic Pump Valve Body assembly. If you attempt to raise the Motor or sterndrive to the up or down position and nothing happens, first check to make sure your Battery is charged and switched on if your boat is equipped with a Battery switch. If you hear a slight clicking noise you have power coming from the switch to the solenoid. The next step is to go directly to the Motor and test it there. First, disconnect the power Trim and Tilt Motor.

Using a jumper wire, apply 12 volts directly to the blue wire if your engine or drive unit is in the down position. It should raise up at this time. If it is in the up position, apply power to the green wire reversing the Motor and lowering the unit. If the Motor runs, you may have a problem with a solenoid or lack of voltage coming from the power Trim and Tilt switch to the solenoid.

If your power Trim Tilt Motor won’t run after this procedure it is time to replace it. Some replacement Power Trim and Tilt Motors will come with a new wiring harness and relay kit to convert your old three wire power Trim and Tilt Motor to a new more powerful two wire Motor. (Tilt and Trim cross-reference)

Power Trim and Tilt Pump Problems

Tilt and Trim Pump

If your power Trim and Trim Motor is working fine but the engine or drive unit won’t stay Trimmed or bleeds down when in the up position, you most likely have a problem with the Hydraulic pump or Valve Body assembly. In that case it can be removed and rebuilt by a qualified repair facility. Replace the power Trim and Tilt hydraulic pump unit and fill the reservoir with the correct Power Tilt and Trim Fluid per your owner’s manual. Generally, Transmission fluid is not recommended. It can be hard on some seals due to the high amount of detergents. Most power Trim and Tilt units will purge the air from the system just by running the engine or sterndrive up and down two or three times with the vent plug loose.

Had a problem a bit similar at the start of the season. Unit was making strange noises and operating fitfully at first then not at all. Also noticed a drip of hydraulic oil underneath. Took it to my local expert who did an autopsy and found an internal O ring had gone. Total cost €60 to replace it.

Thanks for the replies gents,

Hi Mike

After seeing the replies from yourself and Jim I went down to the moorings to have a bash at getting things moving but found it all a bit risky trying to do things while hanging over the back of the boat so I sacked it for now, I will try find a space in the boat club so I can pull it out of the water to work on it,

Hi Jim

Had a look at the link and it gave me another couple of things to check out… it also set me off on another search where I found some more info on the wiring in the link below,
It helped me find the relays easy enough but trying to follow the wires to the motor is not easy without taking some covers off…. I will look into it when I get the boat on dry land,

Here’s the link it may be of interest,

http://marine-engines.wikia.com/wiki/Tr ... s_not_Work


Hi Hugo

I have a look to see if I can spot any leakage while checking on the wiring but after seeing the amount of wiring under the hood of this engine I might have to go down the same road as yourself and find someone to sort it for me.


Thanks again for the info Gents, I will be sure to let you know how things work out

I had tilt and trim problem for some time replaced relays etc. only to find a break in the wire going to the relay it worked some times out at sea because the break would make and break as the sea rolled but would not make out of the water you need to check all the wires with a meter

check all the wires with a meter

Will do,

I have to go see if there is room for my boat at the club before i can have a good luck at it, I have been in this boat club for over four years and the only time i used it was to launch my mates boat 6 months ago so i think its time to introduce myself and my problem to the other members in the hope that someone there knows a bit more about this prob,

Thanks Bass Point,

does anyone know where i can pick up a workshop manual for this engine ?

http://www.outboardexpert.com/evinruder ... fAodGnF-OQ

Good news,

Jim I ran a live wire down to the motor -as it said to do in your post- and everything worked fine which in turn made me smile because I think the motor would have set me back over €100 + fitting cost,

Then I started to check the wiring with the multimeter -as Bass point suggested- only to find I couldn’t get any reading on the meter… the cause of this was the solder on one of the probes broke off - by the time I fixed the probe it was dark so I attacked again this morning and after cleaning the fuse holder and a couple of connectors the motor dropped down first try.. again I smiled

Tried to raise it up but had no joy so I checked the voltage on the Green wire -DOWN- that leads to the motor while keeping the switch pressed down and got a reading of 12.24volts… tried the same with the Blue wire -UP- and got a reading of around 0.4??,

So I again cleaned the fitting from the switch- then I got much the same reading as the green wire before and after the relay box and now I’m more than happy to say its all working fine again

Last Friday I ordered a "Seloc Repair manual" for this motor $38 inc postage, they said it would take between 15 and 30 days to arrive but when I finished working on the engine I went in for a cuppa and was told a parcel had arrived a couple of hours ago for me… yep you guessed it,

The manual covers all Johnson/Evinrude inline engines from 1990-01, 1.25-70HP, 1-4Cylinder. 2stroke and 4-stroke Models.

So if any of you need a page let me know,

Thanks again for the info lads

A happy outcome What age did you say the engine is?

A happy outcome What age did you say the engine is?

Hi Hugo

I checked on the Johnson/Evinrude site and found out to my surprise that this engine is a 1999 model, E at the end of the model # means 9 so on mine its EE,

I have been mistakenly telling people this engine is around 5 years old but have since found out that it is a replacement engine for one that was stolen off the boat,

It’s a wickedly fast 40HP EFI that doesn’t seem to have had a lot of work… until I got my hands on it - the first good trip I did was to take it from limerick city to Loop head,
It took me 3 hours to get to Carrigaholt, I took it handy and managed to kill the impulse to go flat out, we left limerick an hour before H/W 5:45am and returned on the incoming tide and hit limerick at 6:15pm,

The Shannon estuary was flat calm on the day and the sun was shinning all day, what more could a man ask for,

Just as a matter of interest, I didn’t have a clue as to how much petrol I would need for this round trip so I had 3 x 22lt tanks - first tank emptied just as we turned into Carrigaholt harbour, my mate Dulittle was with me when the engine ran dry and as soon as it cut out the two of us looked at each other with the expression of “what the f%”$” Then both of us said petrol at the same time

At around 18 -20knots Ph we used 22lt’s to get to Carrigaholt so we will be doing this trip again in the future.

Good Stuff!