Quick silver

[roffey]

I have a red button on the dash of my boat. It reads Quick silver with a plastic bulb and a red push button. Anyone know what this is?

[Genie Aye]

Push it and let us know what happened:you:

[Destroyer]

I think that's the ejector seat....

[roffey]

OK, I pushed it and the out drive fell off.

[roffey]

so after working at putting the out drive back on using a little water proof duct tape I think I have it fixed... but still wonder why they have a out drive ejector button...

[smokeonthewater]

quicksilver is mercury's parts company.... IE usually when the merc manual suggests a product it is always branded quicksilver.

The "plastic bulb" kinda makes it sound to me like a circuit breaker... PICS would help ......as always.

[reelapeelin]

Agreed...pics always help answer questions...

[THEFERMANATOR]

Sounds almost like the trailering button to me from the description. The trim and tilt switch in the binnacle is supposed to be limited by the trim limit switch on the outdrive so that you don't accidentally trim the outdrive to high while underway(but the trim limit switch burns out OFTEN, so most are bypassed). So they put a seperate button on the dash to allow you to trim the outdrive the rest of the way up.

[roffey]

Agreed...pics always help answer questions...
I did a little looking around on the internet. Quicksilver brings up a lot. I will be out at the boat on Friday and snap a pic and post it. I can even show you the mess I think I have taken on...

[Blue_Runner]

See if this helps:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/281741-quicksilver-button-my-1987-searay-sundancer.html

[smokeonthewater]

winner winner chicken dinner!

[roffey]

easy peasy lemon squeezy:sun:

[roffey]

Sounds almost like the trailering button to me from the description. The trim and tilt switch in the binnacle is supposed to be limited by the trim limit switch on the outdrive so that you don't accidentally trim the outdrive to high while underway(but the trim limit switch burns out OFTEN, so most are bypassed). So they put a seperate button on the dash to allow you to trim the outdrive the rest of the way up.

I think you may be right, I am unable to put the outdrive down. It sounds like it is going down but the drive does not move... I'll give that a try, I bet if I hold the button and press the down... things may happen.

[THEFERMANATOR]

I think you may be right, I am unable to put the outdrive down. It sounds like it is going down but the drive does not move... I'll give that a try, I bet if I hold the button and press the down... things may happen.

That's not how the system works. The down button should always put the drive down. You may have a stuck ram on yours if the motor is running and it isn't going down.

[phatdaddy]

ferm,no knowledge of i/o's, but is there a trailer lock lever like on an ob?

[roffey]

That's not how the system works. The down button should always put the drive down. You may have a stuck ram on yours if the motor is running and it isn't going down.
If I push the down button I hear the hydraulics motor run but the outdrive does not go down. I will be out to the boat on Friday and take some pictures. I have the boat at a mechanic who has a I/O and is good with this sort of stuff.

I'll post back on Friday or Saturday, thanks for all the input so far.

[smokeonthewater]

ferm,no knowledge of i/o's, but is there a trailer lock lever like on an ob?
no but there COULD be trailering clips snapped onto the rams

[roffey]

no but there COULD be trailering clips snapped onto the rams

I quickly looked at the rams and can't see anything but I will look harder. As I said it sounds like the outdrive is going down...

[randlemanboater]

Had a 1984 model Merc tower of power on a boat and it had a "trailer" button on it...but it said "trailer" on it...and when you pushed it, the motor tilted all the way up.

[roffey]

Had a 1984 model Merc tower of power on a boat and it had a "trailer" button on it...but it said "trailer" on it...and when you pushed it, the motor tilted all the way up.
I see what you mean now, the trailer button put the motor up.. I'm a little slow today. I have been working nights and am a little sleep deprived. I thought you guys were saying the button stopped the drive from going down when on the trailer. I'll check the rams a little closer and check it out.
I'll take some pictures of the dash and motor. I seem to have the normal trim buttons up up and down, then I have the buttons for the trim tabs and then a little joy stick that looks to be from the trim as well..

[spareparts]

joy stick is for trim tabs, sounds like the button is for trailer position on out drive trim. make sure you don't have the shifter in reverse when you try to trim it. Does the motor sound like its spinning real fast? you can add trim fluid (10w30 oil) and see if it helps. Spray some CRC or WD40 on the rams, have some one stand on them while you trim the drive down. Let us know how it works

[roffey]

joy stick is for trim tabs, sounds like the button is for trailer position on out drive trim. make sure you don't have the shifter in reverse when you try to trim it. Does the motor sound like its spinning real fast? you can add trim fluid (10w30 oil) and see if it helps. Spray some CRC or WD40 on the rams, have some one stand on them while you trim the drive down. Let us know how it works
you guys will be the second to know, me being the first, LOL. I have some experience with trim on an I/O. The motor sounds like it's putting the outdrive down and then changes pitch as if the outdrive has gone down or reached the bottom. Don't know if I am explaining right or not. As I said I will take some pictures and post it.

[roffey]

I think I have it figured out and I bet you guys know exactly what it is. It's a quicksilver mercathode monitor, it is connected to the anodes on the motor. I think the button is for testing. You connect a volt meter it and can tell by the reading if you need to change the anode or maybe assist with the corrosion inhibitor?
As far as the trim goes, I checked for all the stuff you people had mentioned and nothing looked to be holding the drive from going down. So I got frustrated and just held the down button while looking at the trim indicator, it was bouncing back and forth for about 1-2 minutes and then grabbed and went down. All the lights work and the bilge. The only thing that does not work is the radio.
I took some pictures to post but they will take up to much space, new camera I still have to figure it out. I will posy the pictures as soon as I can get the size down, like they say size matters.
So I'm in business and will be out on the water soon so watch out for the crazy canuck.