www.iFourWinns.com

My trim gauge stopped working sometime during the season last year. I figured it was the sender and have read here how much of a PITA they can be to replace, not to mention the cost. So, I was going to just let it be but we splashed for the first time yesterday and it really is annoying not to have a trim gauge. I wanted to see if anyone had thoughts as to diagnosing what my actual problem is (sender vs wiring vs gauge).

-I have a VP SX drive, if that matters... and factory Faria gauges
-Gauge doesn't work at all, no movement whatsoever when trimming in/out
-My visual inspection of the sender doesn't reveal any obvious faults, but I am by no means an expert
-Actual trim works just fine

I thought I had read here once that you can somehow diagnose weather you have a sender vs. gauge problem with a multimeter, but can't find the thread now. Anyone able to help

Also, if it was the sender, is the job easier to do when you pull the drive? I was going to have the drive pulled at the end of the season for regular inspection, but if it would be easier (AKA cheaper) to have it pulled now and the sender replaced I might do it that way.

As always, thanks in advance.

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2008 H200SS w/ 5.7L VP Gi
2009 GMC Yukon

Former Boat:
2008 H180 w/ 3.0L VP

I am not familiar with the newer style Volvo drives but the SX series had the trim sender wiring going through the transom mount, above the manifold for the trim lines. The wiring comes out in the engine compartment on the other side of the transom mount and plugs into a connector. On my OMC Cobra and the earlier SXs you could un plug that connector and then cycle the drive up and down with an ohmmeter connected between the leads. The resistance should vary between 0 and 200 ohms. In my case it was never the gauge, it was always the senders that went bad. Ironically the aftermarket Sierra one seems to have lasted longer than the OE ones used to last in salt water. The hard part is snaking that wire through the transom mount. The area where it comes out in the engine compartment is pretty cramped.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

most likely its the sender, and just to make things easier for youself you should remove the drive and likely the u-jount bellows. I also removed the pivot housing to make it easier. the hole where the grommet goes through is up high in the center of the transom mount.
sometimes the old one will fall apart when removing.
I bought a new one and went into the engine compartment before installing it and pluged it in and watched the gauge while i manually moved the sender slowly and sure enough it wirked with the new one

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"Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes "

1996 238 Vista dlx "Casper's Toy Too"
2006 5.0GXI w/closed cooling, DP-sm 1.95 drive
Previous boat:
1998 Sundowner 205

I had a 99 Vista 258 with the VP drive and in the 4 seasons I owned it, I replaced the trim sender twice. It wasnt worth the money and time to fix it because it just broke again a few months later.

Now I have a 97 278 Vista with twins and of course, my starboard trim doesnt register anything on the gauge. Well, occasionally it jumps around on its own. I go by sound and feel when I trim now.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21