Expert: Everett Peacock - 10/28/2009

Question
Hello, I have a 68 120hp I/O mercruiser. The tilt trim was
intermittent so I cleaned the connections on my switches on the dash. I raised the trim all the way up and now it is stuck in that position. I checked all the electrical at the motor/solenoid/relays like is explained in other answers and all electrical is ok. It clicks when I push the up button, but does nothing when I push down or out(although does have power at the right place). There is a purple and blue wire going out to the limit switch on the outboard, I noticed that if I would connect them then the out button would produce a click when pushed. The wires to the outboard are old and the insulation is falling off, what happens when they touch and short out? and does it matter if the wires gets switched? the wires that the blue and purple go into are not marked and I may have confused them. Also, is there a way to manually lower my outboard?  

Answer
there may be a knob on the trim unit to release the uint to go down..  the wires to the drive go to the trim limit switch...the wires go bad in time and you will need to connect them together to get full up and down...But it sounds like the trim motor is locked up...