Trim wouldn't go up or in reverse...no click,but would still go down then it just came back on and would repeat the cycle.engine loss power from 4000 to 2500rpms then engine cut off and cranking it would just make a click sound and the fuel pump would kick in everytime it died. but after letting it set then it cranked up and it would repeat it self in that cycle.putting red on the positive posts it would arc with ground on and could switch process by leaving positive posts on and then put ground on then the ground would spark.

Does anybody have any idea where to start troubleshooting?

What year motor? What size?
I’m betting you have a bad ground somewhere

2015 37 block with hydro reverse.would you start checking grounds on engine or hydraulic unit first?

I would check every ground.
Check the battery connections, motor connections
Everything
Really sounds like a bad ground to me

Ok thanks I'll see what I find.

My battery was good and connections were tight with no corrosion.i found the arc originating from the thick positive wire and tried to work my way back with no answer in sight.i worked the trim and cycled it through all the paces and it stuck for a few seconds reproducing the same product,but no connections sparked or were hot.im at a lost for words wishing I knew what was the problem.im thinking that somehow when its put under a load its increasing the problem worse.

Do you have any friends with any kind of electrical background? Really need to take measurements. A multimeter will tell the tale.

I got some,do I need to look for specific resistance or voltage drops?

Did you check those Voltage drops?

Not yet,was visually checking for for a broken wire or loose connection mostly.

I feel stupid how easy I overlooked it,the problem was caused by rust on the adjacent bolt to the starter.everytime I looked at it,I never noticed it until yesterday.shes back up and running guys...thanks for the help.

Sorry for the long post guys, I was wrong,it happened again.This time no click from the solenoid.i did the test for the switches and they were good so i moved to the solenoid and hooked up the test light to the yellow wire. Then I connected it to the blue wire and no light came on.My motor doesn't do the starter click anymore as I can tell running it lately but the trim would still stick and fail and only want to go down,not up.The connections are tight and cleaned.my gut is telling me the solenoid, but is it possible that the solenoid failing and somehow cutting off was tripping the ignition switch to turn off the engine?