Engine ID

[Rich L]

I have a Mercury 200 Offshore engine on my boat, I'm not sure what year it is. Is there a data plate on the motor and where is it located? The tilt stopped working, the motor goes up but will not go back down. I need to get a manual but I'm not sure how to ID the engine. I'm thinking a relay might be bad but without the manual I cant find the damn thing.

[fitz73222]

The up and down relays (2) are under the cowl, adjacent to the cowl mounted trim switch. They plug in to their respective sockets. Switch the blue and green wires and see if the motor trims down, or just switch the relays to see if the issue follows the relay. If this happens take out one relay and try, then the other until you see which relay it is. The relays are little 1 inch square black plastic boxes with plug in contacts on the bottom.  Done!

[seabob4]

Rich,
Fitz gives great advice, but eventually, you'll need to know the model year and S/N of your motor.  The S/N plate should be on the starboard side, right by the engine mounting bracket...

[RickK]

What is the saying - Blue sky (up) and green water (down)?

[fitz73222]

I do believe you are correct Rick, One other quick check Rich; see if the engine will trim up and down with the cowl mounted switch. If it does, your helm trim switch is bad and not a relay.

[Rich L]

I tried the switch on the cowl, the tilt still only goes up and not down.Thanks Fitz, this next question might sound pathetic and I am mechanically inclined but how do you get the cowl of the engine? The relay seems like a 5 min. job and I'm sure I can handle it. The marina wants about 250 to fix it, if I had to guess the relay is probably between 15 and 25 bucks.The mechanic bypassed  something and lowered the engine so more than likely its the relay.

[seabob4]

I tried the switch on the cowl, the tilt still only goes up and not down.Thanks Fitz, this next question might sound pathetic and I am mechanically inclined but how do you get the cowl of the engine? The relay seems like a 5 min. job and I'm sure I can handle it. The marina wants about 250 to fix it, if I had to guess the relay is probably between 15 and 25 bucks.The mechanic bypassed  something and lowered the engine so more than likely its the relay.

He probably loosened the manual release screw, port side on the mounting bracket.  But that wouldn't explain why it goes up and not down...

[Rich L]

I checked out the tilt relays on motor today, switched them around and still no down tilt just up. Checked the wires as best I could but couldn't tell how far down the power went without my test light. I'm thinking bad connection somewhere.

[GoneFission]

On TV they keep saying if it does not go down for 4 hours or more you should call a doctor...  

Seriousness aside, did you try a "hot wire" from from the starter positive to the relay/solenoid to see if the motor runs up and down.  And blue (sky) up and green (ground) down is a good memory jogger for Mercury trim/tilt systems.  I think you are right that the problem is likely a loose/corroded connection somewhere.  A test light or meter would be very helpful!