Strange fluctuations with trim gauge
 

Another issue I have noticed with the new engine installation is that the trim gauge is wagging around all over the place like a windshield washer. It reads fine with no movement when the key is turned to the on position, but as soon as the engine is started it flickers wildly. Connections at the back of the gauge are tight, as are the bullet connectors coming from the sending unit. I took the sending unit off the gimbal and everything looked fine. Any ideas? Bad ground? Interference from the tach or coil?

Hmmm, so no one has ever had their trim gauge act strangely?

I'm having the same issue.

Sure it's plugged into the right bullets? Does it read correct at different trim levels when the motor is off?

Hey Jerry, I'm pretty sure everything is hooked up correctly. I'm not sure I can hook it up backwards - aren't the bullet connectors set up so you can't get them backwards?

It does seem to read correctly if the key is turned to the on position without the engine running. It just goes haywire when the engine is started up and running. I'm beginning to suspect some kind of interference from the tach or coil. All the rest of the gauges read normally.

Pretty much fool proof. I do know there are several bullet connectors for items such as the drive bottle, trim limit wires and a timing lock out connector. Just thinking that maybe grabbed the wrong one by mistake.

Update: It eventually got worse to the point that it was reading in the full "up" position all the time. Did some troubleshooting, and found that one of the bullet connectors went to a ground on the Mercathode bracket. Apparently the bracket was not making good ground contact with the block. Ran a jumper to ground, and gauge functioned normally.