Carver Owners Forum

Hello, I am hoping someone can help me. My starboard trim works well and I can hear the mechanism working and see the movement on the gauge. My port trim seems to be stuck in the max UP position. The gauge shows the highest setting and when I press the down button I can hear the trim mechanism working but it doesn't stop humming as long as the button is pressed down (on the starboard engine once the trim hits the lowest or highest setting on the gauge, it stops humming even if I am still pressing the button. What do you think is causing this? What are the effects of sailing the boat with mismatched trim levels on the engines? Also, what does the middle button on the trim controls do?

A couple of things;
- Have you confirmed whether the drive is actually moving up and down or is this just an indicator problem?
- There are position senders and trim limit switches on the sides of the bell housing of the transom assemblies that the drives are bolted to. The senders are on the starboard side of each housing and get adjusted so they show on the gauge the position of the drive. The trim limit switch on the port side of each housing limits how high you can trim the drive with the UP "trim" button while the engine is operating. There is a specific measurement for trim limit because you don't want to subject the u-joints to too much of an angle during engine operation.
- If set properly and is actually working, when you trim a drive up using the "trim" button, the drive will stop automatically at the "limit" height as set at the limit switch. This stops the pump, hence you'll stop hearing it.
- To go past the "limit" height, you use the "trailer" switch which is probably the middle switch you're asking about. There are a few different types of trailer button configurations but it sounds like yours probably requires holding the middle button and the UP button at the same time to activate trailer mode and go up past the limit height. This is to position your drive higher for trailering or to get you into really shallow water. Again, you should only use this function with the engine off, and ensure the drive is back down to at least the limit position before restarting the engine. When in the trailer position, pushing just the DOWN switch will bring the drive down.
- When operating normally, the pump will continue to operate for as long as you hold the DOWN button. The pump will stop operating automatically while holding the UP button once the drive hits the limit height. The pump will continue to operate for as long as you hold the trailer and trim UP button together to activate trailer mode.

If yours isn't operating this way, then there is a wiring issue, a faulty trim control at the helm, gauge issue, sender and or trim limit switch issue, or the limit switch and or sender need adjustments. It sounds like your pump is functioning properly from what you've described.

Forgot to ask; I assume these are Mercury/Mercruiser engines and drives?

Hi Viper, thanks for the reply - it was very informative. Yes, I have the 4.3 Mercruiser engines on this boat. It is also in the water right now. I went back to the boat today and the starboard propeller (the one that works fine and the gauge moves) was in the highest position and I could see the propeller move down when I lowered the trim to the lowest setting. The port engine is the one where the gauge shows that it is in the highest position but I could see that the propeller is actually in the lowest position. However when I try to raise it nothing happens and the pump doesn't run. It only runs when I press the down button but I already know that it is in the lowest position even though the gauge shows that it is in the highest position. What do you think that means? Is the faulty gauge reading "telling" the pump not to raise because it thinks it is already in the highest setting? I am new to this so please excuse my terminology and I hope I described it well enough.

The gauge doesn't dictate whether you can move the drive up or down. It is either faulty or simply relaying what the sender says the position of the drive is even if it's wrong due to a faulty sender or incorrect setting. There are a couple of checks you can do inside the engine compartment and at the control switch at the helm to make sure everything there is working but I suspect the sender and limit switch are faulty or set wrong, this is more common. Unfortunately that means hauling the boat out to correct.

You could hot wire the UP position at the pump to see if the pump actually works UP. You could also take readings from the sender and limit wires coming through the transom assembly into the engine compartment. And you can ensure the UP switch at the helm is actually making contact and closing the circuit. You'll need to know how to use a multimeter to accomplish these checks before determining that in fact that the problem lays outside and she has to be hauled out.

If the problem lies outside, a haul out will allow you to check sender and limit adjustments and determine whether the fix is an adjustment or sender/switch replacement. The replacement kit comes with both the sender and limit switch. It's not uncommon for the wires at the sender and switch to be chewed up. If you find that, don't try and mend them, replace everything with a new kit.

PS; more often than not, it's the "limit" circuit or the switch's setting at the drive that is preventing you from moving the drive UP, but there are other things to check first as mentioned above.

I'm assuming she's already in the water?

Where is she located?

Yes, she is in the water in Wasaga Beach. You wrote:

You could hot wire the UP position at the pump to see if the pump actually works UP.

Where can I access this pump? Again, thanks for all the help!

You'll have one pump for each drive, usually mounted to the transom. This is not to be confused with the trim tab pump (you'll only have one of these). The drive pump will have a black motor on top with a white plastic reservoir and fill cap, wiring, and hydraulic hoses. There will be directional solenoids on it. You should be able to see the fluid level through the reservoir, ensure there is fluid in it.

I located the two pumps and the liquid in the one that works is a red colour whereas the one that doesn't work properly is a brownish colour. Looks like it is contaminated from what I read...by the way, do you know the fuel capacity of each tank on this model? I have the owner's manual but it doesn't state the capacity in the fuel systems section. A strange omission

DukeLang83 wrote:Source of the post..... fuel capacity of each tank on this model?....

Hopefully someone will be able to answer that for you.

The PowerBoat Guide lists the total capacity at 100 gallons, so I'd guess 50 gallons per side.