1977 - 55hp Johnson Seahorse locking mechanism - question?

[canuck_eh]

Hello everyone, I have a what appears to be a minor problem with the locking mechanism with the above outboard, here goes:

The outboard has a Hydro-Lift device, when I lower the engine against the trim bar (rod) which is positioned in either one of the four or so holes to adjust trim, there is a couple of hook like devices that to my perception should engage the trim rod so that the rearward thrust of the outboard is not held by the hydraulics. It looks to me like these two hooks should solidly engage the rod and hold the outboard in place. There are some springs there that allow the hooks to toggle past the rod when moving in the down position. Everything looks to be in place, no missing or broken parts. But the problem is that the hooks sit up and away from the trim setting rod and will not engage it solidly. Is this a mere spring adjustment? or am I missing something? It makes no difference whether I position the lever located on the port side to either "run" or "lift" ??????

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1977 - 55hp Johnson Seahorse locking mechanism - question?

Doesn't it have to be in reverse for the lock to drop down, not sure, don't have that engine.

 

[canuck_eh]

Re: 1977 - 55hp Johnson Seahorse locking mechanism - question?

Doesn't it have to be in reverse for the lock to drop down, not sure, don't have that engine.

Hmmmm! never thaught of it that way. But you got me thinking. First thing tomorow morning is that I'm going to shift in reverse and see what happens to the hooks. Maybe you're onto something here that I didn't think about. Thanks for getting the ball rolling and the brain cells working though. I still do welcome any other ideas though.