I would still fix the trim gauge if it were mine. I like to know where my
outdrive is. I lower it slightly if I see some chop ahead. For maximum
ujoint life I believe it is recomended that you stay inside the inner set of
marks during extended crusing. Not sure when they went to ss wire as I
could have sworn mine was copper wire when I fixed it. The wire on mine had
corroded and broken off. It's been a few years but my recollection is that
I was able to disassemble and repair it. I know I didn't buy a replacement.
They can be a bit of a chore to replace because the wire goes through the
transom plate and the sending unit comes with new wire on it. The
connections to the wiring harness are inside the boat.

"Inno" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is a 4.3 Volvo Penta by the way, 190 hp.

This is my first boat with trim adjustment. I have been trying to
maximize speed according to the speedo w/o adjusting the throttle. So
you are saying ignore speedo and try to get the rpm up?

Can anyone explain in simple terms what the theory is behind trim
adjustment. I start off with the engine all the way down, right? Then
when I get onto a plane I raise it a bit? How much to raise it is the
mystery for me! Conditions on our small lake are usually fairly calm,
load is usually about 2 or 3 adults = 400 pounds.

Many thanks for all responses!


Eisboch wrote:
"James" wrote in message
ink.net...
Merc?

There is a sending unit in the side of the outdrive. Where the
outdrive
pivots up and down. One side is the sending unit, the other side is
the
trim limit switch. Both commonly have those wires break off and/or get
corroded.


And, they are also difficult to fix. Might be better to learn to trim by
"ear" anyway because different conditions and loads require different
trim
settings. With practice the OP will learn to recognize the "sweet spot".
Try slowly trimming out for maximum engine RPM without adjusting the
throttle.

Eisboch