Wiring 1973 Hydrostream Vector

[Striker]

Hey, I', new to scream and fly, anyway i just bought a 1973 hydrostream vector and found 34 years of electrical that needs to be replaced. I just started and found that alot of it was patched togther with plenty of spliced wires and changing colors. The tilt on my hydraulic jackplate seems like the only thing wired right, along with my gauges. My hydraulic trim dosent work and seems to be connected to my lighting and then to a switch that dosent seem to do anything. The main thing i'm concerned about is getting the trim to work, then i'll sort everything out. All the hardware is origional from 1973 and i'm trying to find a wiring diagram for the hydraulic trim. Any advice? I'd appreciate any help you can give me.

[Hydrophobic guy]

Whats the motor? Motor mounted trim or remote? Sounds like the typical 30+ year old wiring mess. Make up a harness with various colored wires with a code for what goes to what and do it over.

[Striker]

the motors a 1976 merc 175hp black max, and its in great shape, but its not the engine itself i'm worried about, its getting the trim to work. I can't tell how the hydrolic pump for the trim is wired into the system, thats why i'm trying to get a schematic, or find someone with a similar setup as me.

[BUSHWACKER]

Do a search, there is a wiring guide that was posted awhile back by 1badstream you can find a post by him then click on his name you'll see ALL :eek: his posts, search it that way, mite want to decide what trim switch you want to use 1st, many choices have fun
BTW why not fill out your profile that can be very helpful to ya.
Those early motors are very different in very many ways. Streams are fast and can be a killer if your not careful

www.hydrostream.org (http://www.hydrostream.org) is helpful

green/white trim down
blue/white trim up
green/orange independent tilt down
blue/orange ind tilt up

[oldskier]

Striker, I'm the LAST person you should ask, since I've owned a similar setup for 1 week 1 day, but I just began de rigging my 75 Viper and 77 Merc 175. Pulled the engine last night. I took out over 75 ft. of non connected wires! They were lighting stuff though. the engine, guages and trim all worked fine.

When I took out the hydraulics, the pump was wired + and - directly to the battery. The engine harness has a large plug in connector to the control box and a small plug in connector to the pump. The trim buttons are on the control box. Unless some bonehead has wired around the original harness, sounds like you might have a bad switch assy in the control box or a bad pump. You'll need a wiring diagram to determine where 12V or ground should appear on the pump relay (solenoid?) when you hit the switches. (I ASSume there has to be a relay or solenoid...)

If you get a diagram I'd like to have one too...I'll have to do the search later...I'm supposed to be working....

Bernie

[Striker]

It does look like someone wired around the origional harness. The hydraulic pump has 2 solenoids, i guess one for up and one for down, i just need to figure out how to wire them. Post if you find a diagram, i've been looking but haven't found any yet. I guess i wire the + solenoid wires and pump wire to the battery, and the - pump wire to the two solenoid wires, the two seperate solenoid wires to the two buttons (one to up and one to down), then the two wires back to the battery. Here are some pictures of the pump, and the trim controls it's supossed to connect to. The two trim buttons (Red-up/Black-down?) are on the side of the handle, and the trailer button is on the left side of the control box. The trailer button is the last thing i'm thinking about. I can always raise it to trailer my self. The engine is a 1976 175hp Merc V6 Power Trim Black Max.http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/FirstAttemptVector/Hydrostream028.jpgIt http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb88/FirstAttemptVector/Hydrostream034.jpg

[PirateJoe]

Good God this picture scares me to death. None of the wires have shrink fit conectors. It looks as though the clamps holding the soliniods to the trim motor are the only ground for them. What does it say on the front of that tank??? Buy and read this book. "Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual", by Nigel Calder.
Pirate Joe

[Tom Foley]

You should be able to rewire that trim mess with four wires , Common hot , common ground , and two switchable wires for up and down . Wire in a Teleflex wheel mounted Pro Trim ,looks like a turn signal , and youll be happy .

With regard to rewiring the boat , start with a battery shutoff switch , then come out of the switch to a fuse panel up front and feed all your devices from that . It is also convenient to bring a common gound ( negative ) up to a terminal switch or buss up front and then any necessary ground wires can come from that . this gets rid of the cluster of BS at the battery !
At your local West Marine store they carry a line of products from Blue Seas that are very nice and they also have a guide available if you're not sure about DC wiring .
It's almost always easier to start over when you have got a mess like that .

[Striker]

Thanks for the advise, i probably will rewire the whole thing. When i connect wires, is their any certain type of cap i should use? I was told not to use wire nuts or electrical tape. Is there some other type of corrosion resistant cap?

[Tom Foley]

There are many ways to do this , terminal strips , Soldering and heat shrinking (my favorite ) , Soldering and taping , or just good butt conecters properly crimped and then heat shrink over them . Go to harbor freight and get a cheap heat gun and at least a 45 watt soldering iron , not a gun , and some thin free flowing electronic rosin core solder . Spend a little more on good quality connectors now and you will be rewarded in the long run !

[PirateJoe]

Striker, I agree with Tom 100 percent. There are shrink fit conectors available that contain epoxy, these offer the best protection. Also, take your time. It takes a pro about to days to rig a new Stream. Give yourself plenty of time. Think about, even draw out where you want to run the wires. Time spent here is well spent.
Joe.

[Striker]

I was just about to start rewiring when i realized i don't know which wires do what coming off the soliniods. Does anyone have any idea which wires do what, or have a diagram i could use? Thanks.