f_inscreenname

It’s been a while since I’ve fooled with a Mercruiser but I don’t remember anything like this.
This is what I have. It’s an early 80’s Mercruiser 898 (model R, #1 or pre Alpha, all the above). The drive has two sets of wires coming out of it. One set is for the trim sender and the other is for the trim limit switch.



Then I have this plate the shift interrupter is on there is another switch on the other side that 2 trim lines go to. It also has two blue wires coming out of it that make a connection or not when you shift from neutral to drive or reverse. I know where one trim line goes from it because someone made a hard copper line going from the fittings (the top one in the picture) to the long tube looking thing (left side fitting) that is mounted to the inner transom plate. It also has two wires coming out of it (purple and black).



And to finish it off I have what looks like a run of the mill old style Mercruiser trim pump.
Questions;
What is all this stuff?
How do you plumb all this stuff? Like said I know the one line goes from the thing on the shift plate to the dildo looking thing on the inner shield but where do the rest of the lines go?
Wiring, I thought remembering red is hot, green grass and blue skies was something. Got two wire off the switch plate, got two wires off the dildo looking thing on the inner shield and two wire off the trim limit switch coming out of the outdrive (not worried about the trim sender).
My Volvo set up is a Merc trim pump, two lines to the trim cylinders and a couple wires to make it work. That’s it.

Bondo

Ayuh,.... Dependin' on the trim pump, I suggest ya do the same thing with the set-up, yer settin' up,....

The "Stuff" on the cable switch plate, is the reverse lock, when in reverse, it blocks the trim return oil,.....
The dildo thing is a trim sender, just an earlier version than the pucks on the gimbel ring,...
ya don't need 2, 'n I prefer None at all,... the gauge is a waste of dash space,...
Ditto the trim limit switch,... I know 'bout where it is,....
My trim switch looks like a blinker switch on the side of the wheel,... Push the switch, the drive moves,...

If the pump ya got now, don't have the reverse check-valvin' in it, I suggest ya buy a copy of the newer style, with the plastic tank,...
SEI has 'em for a fairly reasonable price, or used is an option,...
Then ditch all the junk ya got there now,....

f_inscreenname

Bondo, you are making me so happy right now. I thought there was something wrong with all this stuff.
Because I am replacing the bellows and having newer trim and limit switches (hockey puck looking things on the drive pins) in stock I’m installing them but they have no hook ups at the moment. So it already having a trim sender (I am not using) the dildo has to go.
The switch on the plate is the reverse lock out, meaning…. 1, It stops the trim from working when in reverse? Or….. 2, Stops the drive from rising when in reverse?
I think its # 1 but just want to be sure. Like I said my old Volvo 280T uses the same style merc trim pump and there is nothing between the pump and the cylinders but hoses. It don’t move going up or down no matter what way it’s pulling or pushing.
One last question, is the trim limit switch to stop the drive from going up to far (trailering)? Like a bump stop on a Volvo? It may be fun to hook that one up being I have a new’er one (clean wires).

I like the blinker switch. Had one on a Monza I had once. It was a natural for me being I drove a fork lift off and on since I was 16 and it was just like the shifter in one of them. At the moment I’m still trying to come up with some sort of trim control but at the same time making it look like something that belongs in a 1966 Donzi 16

Bondo

Ayuh,.... I'm talkin' 'bout the Hydraulic valve/ switch, not the electrical switch for killin' the ignition, so the drive can come outa gear,....
There's Alota clutter on that plate,...
That said,...
It actually does both, in that oil can't go into, nor out of the cylinders when that valve is closed, blockin' the return oil from the cylinders to the pump,...
It also opens the circuit to the pump,...
I figured that out, Years ago, when I jumpered the pump to raise the drive to trailer, 'n Blew the side out of a cylinder, because the oil couldn't return to the pump,....

The trim limit switch on the gimbel ring, stops the drive from goin' past Trim, into the Tilt phase of the rise,....
It's so the u-joints aren't over stressed from too much angle,....
To use it, ya need 2 trim switches,...
1 for normal trim, 'n another that isn't by-passed by the limit switch to use the Tilt area of the travel,....

f_inscreenname

I get it now. In other words its all pretty much gone. The though of not being able to trim in reverse just dumbfounds me. As for the limit switch, in this little boat if you put the drive up to far it would flip the boat over backwards. Trim senders, no space on dash and I always drive by the feel of the seat. I'll put it together like I do the Volvos and if something don't work out I will go from there.
Thanks B

Bondo

Ayuh,.... Glad I could help,.....