200 hp Johnson tilt/trim stopped working

[Grizzly65]

Finally have time to get out on the water. Rebuilt my carbs with help from the forum, installed new GPS/Sonar and Stereo. Now my Tilt and Trim stops working. I went to put in the water and raised the engine to lock down the trailer bracket, and the system slowly went up hiccupped a couple times and stopped working. I thought low battery, but engine cranks and all electronics work great. T&T motor is extremely rusted and the rams look good with no leaks. Do I just bypass the switches and cut into the green and blue wire at the motor to test the motor straight to the battery as my first step? Repair book has a lot of stuff to do by swapping parts. I don't have a local shop I can "borrow" stuff to trouble shoot.

[wingtime]

Check to make sure the relays are clicking and working.  Also are you using just the engine trim switch or the helm switch?

[Capt. Bob]

Can't speak for your Johnson (though I've owned several) but on my 200 Yammy, the switch was the culprit.
Do you have both a binnacle switch and a switch on the cowling?

My bad, Wing already asked.

This is a common Yammy disease.
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=9062.msg76767#msg76767

[Grizzly65]

Neither one of the switches are working. I suspect the motor due to the shape it is in. I will try and bypass the switch on the engine and see if it works. If not Ill start to trouble shoot the relays. Any idea how much they cost? The manual has detailed instructions on how to test them, but may be too hard with only 2 hands. May just swap it out if it isn't too expensive. Probably change out the motor also. Found it for $63 with free shipping.

[flounderpounder225]

Go ahead and test it as you stated, but I bet it's all swollen with rust? Its done.. especially since you said it was going along slowly then just quit.. that means the power was still there, but the motor gave up, the insides rust out once the water tight integrity is lost, and the commutator and brushes just all fall apart.

[Grizzly65]

Check out a pic of the rusted SOB.  

[seabob4]

Yccch.  I would bet if you stayed on the engine mounted switch and touched either the green or blue wire, they'd start to get warm real quick...

[Grizzly65]

Started taking off the old motor today. 3 bolts out, but can figure out how to get to the rear left one. Engine is in the full up position and manual valve will not budge if I need to get it down. The motor had a hole rusted through in the back, so I will be cutting the housing and pulling it off in pieces. Then I will be able to get to the back screw. Now the question. I assume I will need to take the lower engine cowling off to get to the hook up places for the new motor wiring.

[Georgie]

Grizz,

Just be glad she's in the up position and not the down position.  You'll need to punch out the pivot pin where the main tilt ram attaches to the mid-housing.  Then undo the bolts on the sides that hold the whole T&T in place.  Once that's done, you'll need to unthread your tilt/trim wire harness so you can pull out the whole dang kit&kaboodle.  Once the unit is removed, then you'll have access to the last screw/bolt mounting your motor to the housing.  Good luck.    It can be a pain, but it's usually manageable.  The key is NOT stripping or breaking that last bolt.

[Grizzly65]

Thanks, Do I need to remove the lower engine covering to gain access to the wires that run to the motor? I can't reach (or even see) them from the top with the cowl removed.

[Georgie]

what's your model number?...or at least your year?  I don't have to remove the bottom cowl on my crossflow Jonnyrude, but if yours is newer they may have re-routed the wires in a different manner.  If I had to guess, somewhere inside your cowl should be a plastic plug connecting blue and green wires; one end goes directly to your motor, and the other eventually joins the rest of your wiring harness where it heads forward to your binnacle.  If you can separate that plug, then you should be able to unwind/unthread the wire all the way back to the dead trim motor.  If you can get me the model or year I should be able to do a bit better.

[seabob4]

What Ryan said about the pivot pin.  May as well drive it out now, as you'll have to do that to secure the new motor.  Once you drive out the pivot pin (support the motor first!!), the whole TNT motor assembly swings down, allowing access to that back corner bolt...

[Grizzly65]

The motor is a 1997 J200TXEUA. I tried to follow the motor trim switch wires but they disappear under the block in the rear. I'm about 30 min away from the boat, so Ill look closer tomorrow.