VZ200TLRA eats trim senders

[mcipinkie]

I have a 2002 VZ200TLRA on a 2002 Skeeter ZX200. Stock Teleflex trim gauge on the Skeeter. I have put three new trim senders on the motor. Each works properly when I install it. After a few minutes (seconds?) running time, it quits working properly. The indicator on the trim gauge barely moves from full down to full up. I've tracked the wiring down as best I can. Nothing visible in the wiring. Those Yamaha trim senders are expensive. They all work mechanically. I've put the new piece that actuates the trim, but that was just a maintenance item.

I checked the trim gauge out per the Teleflex instructions. It works properly when just running 12V to it.

Any ideas on what to look at? I'm pretty good with these motors, but this one has me baffled. I've spent $450 dollars on senders. Ain't going for $600 without some ideas.

THANKS !!

[ausnoelm]

Just use it without a trim gauge, it's pretty simple to know if your boat is trimmed right rather than relying on a gauge to tell you.

[fairdeal]

"something is not right"
the trim sender is just a variable resistor - and very well built, IMO
although over a long time the arm can "freeze up",
the actual electrical contacts seem to be remarkably well protected

so not believable that the sender fails "in minutes".
And you can easily check by moving the arm manually -
either connected to the gauge to watch it move,
or by connecting an ohmmeter to the leads.

Now, your model also has a cam on the bracket bolt,
"the new piece that actuates" that you replaced

My guess, you have a problem with that cam -
perhaps you simply don't have it tightened
and it slips the first time the engine tilts

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Plus 1 ^^^

https://www.boats.net/catalog/yamaha...tlra/bracket-2 , part #1 on my F150 was originally plastic and had a hair line crack in it (over time-maybe a year old?)

Thus, it would spin on the shaft and NOT activate the switch (your switch is different than mine).

The new up-dated part was now made of a coated metal. As I recall, there is a small alignment hole in the tilt shaft to help keep it from moving.

[boscoe99]

Are the senders actually failing such that the resistance values are not within specification? The senders are normally vary reliable. For four senders to have failed (original and three replacements) leads me to believe that there is a problem somewhere else.

I would tend to agree with the two that suggest the problem might lie with the cam. If the old plastic cam is cracked so that it cannot do its job properly then that will manifest itself in the form of an incorrect or inconsistent reading on trim gauge. Same with the updated metal cam that is not securely fastened. I suspect you still have the old plastic cam but.. Check and see. Get the updated configuration and I bet your problem will be cured.

[boscoe99]

Just use it without a trim gauge, it's pretty simple to know if your boat is trimmed right rather than relying on a gauge to tell you.

While technically what you write is right, I would never operate a motor without the trim sender working. I find it so much easier to get to the optimum engine trim angle using a gauge instead of the trial and error method.

[99yam40]

is it possible that the telaflex gauge is sending the wrong voltage, buring out the resister?

I have no idea how this aftermarket gauge is hooked up, but this thread s few spots down from yours has info on the Yamaha guage that might help
http://www.yamahaoutboardparts.com/f...75-hp-2-stroke

[walleye1]

My bet it is the cam lever.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Part #1, I posted (with the link) IS the same style as my old plastic one, it's go a hair line crack in it.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Any updates?

[mcipinkie]

I can assure all of you that my diagnosis is accurate. I am quite experienced on working on these motors. It isn't the trim cam. It works perfectly immediately after I install the sender. I have put three of the damn things on. Actually four. I put one on several years ago. I know how they work. Yes I can run the boat without a trim gauge, but I don't like to. Yes, it does quit working in few minutes of running. How about a voltage problem from the motor eating up the resistor? Possible? Just to keep all you guys from insisting it's the cam, I can reach the sender and move it manually and the gauge still doesn't work. Something is eating trim senders.

[99yam40]

are you sure you have everything hooked up properly?
and have you measured the voltage heading to the sending unit to be sure it is the proper voltage for that unit?

over voltage will burn up resisters

[fairdeal]

the trim sensor resistance varies from 10 ohms to >250

IIRC the Yamaha multifunction tach outputs ~5V to it - so 0.5 amp, 2.5 watts

so if you give it, say, 13 volts - you get 1.3 amps, 17 watts

would that difference to burn the wiring? I don't know


mcipinkie - what voltage is the Teleflex gauge supplying to the trim sensor ?

[mcipinkie]

It would be hard to hook up incorrectly. One single pin, one 2 pin. Remember, it works immediately after installation. I'm confident hooked up correctly.

Too much voltage to the resistor is all I can come up with. Not sure how the gauge sends voltage to the sensor. The wiring diagram for that motor is convoluted. Not even sure the gauge sends to the sender.. I think it only receives a signal from the sender.

I though about just replacing the Teleflex gauge. It came new on the boat in 2002, but it checks out per the Teleflex web page.

Hook a voltmeter to the pink and black wires and see what I have with the motor rev'ed up? Kind of hard to believe that a high voltage issue would only get the trim sensor.

I keep thinking the usual stuff: Bad wire, bad ground. But it's not intermittent. I'd wire around if I could figure out how.

THANKS GUYS !!