Trim Indicators
 

This weekend I noticed my trim indicators were not working correctly. The indicators work correctly within the range of trim all the way in thru 2 or 3 out, as indicated, then the indicators quit moving even though the drives are still trimming out correctly. The drives continue to trim out all the way to the full trailer position but the indicators quit moving.

Would this be broken or stuck cables, problems with the actuators, or the indicator?

Re: Trim Indicators
 

The indicators are adjustable but they wont show you the FULL range of motion of the drives....you tuck the drives all the way in and adjust the actuators and indicators to show the same......when triming out teh actuators will obviously only go so far as the have limited range of travel....if they are not showing you full out then i would suspect the actuators may be sticking....they can be taken appart fairly easily and cleaned out....i even put a light coat of marine grease on the springs and indicator rods of the 28cig i did for my buddy when we changed out the cables and he has had no problems with them since :)

Re: Trim Indicators
 

I know the indicator won't travel the full range, i.e. +2 in to all the way to -10 out , but it stops moving at around -2 or -3 out, even though there is plenty trim out to go. It's hard to get the ideal trim out because the indicator stops moving before I get there. So everytime I have to go by rpm/mph (gps) to find the ideal trim.

I guess I'll wait for a rainy weekend and pull the actuators apart and lubricate them.

Re: Trim Indicators
 

They suck, not sure if I can fully explain my solution but here is what I did. I took the end of the plastic rod, drilled and tapped it. Then I took a clamp and screwed it into the end of the acutator. I used a clamp that has a bold intead of a regular clamp. Then the clamp goes around the piece connected to the drive the at the actuator rod hits. That way the rod is pulled out instead of relying on the spring. Only drawback is I can't trim to trailer, although I never do so it's not a problem for me.

so the rod now looks like O------------with-the cable-here-----

Re: Trim Indicators
 

Thanks for the responses. I think I know what you mean.

The problem is that the spring in the actuator has probably lost some of it's tension and when I trim out it naturally loses enough so that it can't pull the cable/indicator. So you've eliminated the need for the spring to pull it out.

I probably don't help matters any because once I park teh boat, I always lower the drives back down so they are straight out so as not to put as much wear on the bellows, u-joint etc. I only leave it up when I'm actually trailering it, whcih means the spring is always compressed.