Hi... I just got off the phone for my Dad, he was trying to ready his boat to go out and try fishing for the first time this year. He has a problem so I'm posting a Q for him...
'91 Merc with power t/t... trim worked fine when put away last fall. Now trim motor makes noise, but no movement of the t/t in either direction. Motor is trimmed mostly, but not all the way, down. He (and buddy) tried to lift motor while applying up trim, wouldn't budge.... Same for pushing down on the skeg while trying down trim. There is no sign of t/t fluid leakage. This is the type of unit that is completely on the engine, not with the pump in the boat.
So, there is a warning on the unit not to remove the cap while the engine is lowered because fluid is under pressure.... but given that it is stuck down, maybe it's stuck because there isn't fluid in there (?) in which case maybe he should loosen the cap and see if fluid seeps out. If not, remove it and fill as much as possible (?).
Any other thoughts? How do these things normally fail? Are there small openings inside there that might get gummed up with crud if the t/t fluid has never been changed?
Kind of a bummer because he just bought the boat off a friend of his over the winter... he hasn't even had it out (as the owner) yet. BTW, he knows it was OK in the fall because he borrowed it a few times last year, and it was my Dad who changed out the lower unit oil before winter.
thanks for your $.02
'91 Merc with power t/t... trim worked fine when put away last fall. Now trim motor makes noise, but no movement of the t/t in either direction. Motor is trimmed mostly, but not all the way, down. He (and buddy) tried to lift motor while applying up trim, wouldn't budge.... Same for pushing down on the skeg while trying down trim. There is no sign of t/t fluid leakage. This is the type of unit that is completely on the engine, not with the pump in the boat.
So, there is a warning on the unit not to remove the cap while the engine is lowered because fluid is under pressure.... but given that it is stuck down, maybe it's stuck because there isn't fluid in there (?) in which case maybe he should loosen the cap and see if fluid seeps out. If not, remove it and fill as much as possible (?).
Any other thoughts? How do these things normally fail? Are there small openings inside there that might get gummed up with crud if the t/t fluid has never been changed?
Kind of a bummer because he just bought the boat off a friend of his over the winter... he hasn't even had it out (as the owner) yet. BTW, he knows it was OK in the fall because he borrowed it a few times last year, and it was my Dad who changed out the lower unit oil before winter.
thanks for your $.02
