1995 Johnson 115 OceanRunner trim motor (video)

[Netfish&Chill]

Hi all, a little while back I was keeping my boat on the water (Savannah, GA) and my battery died and the boat took on a lot of water near the rear. I had to get a tow-out and once we made it to the boat ramp, I had to manually release the trim to raise the motor to get it on the trailer. Since then, the trim isn't working - it's making noises (it's getting power) but moving up or down. I replaced the relays and added hydraulic fluid. I noticed that after adding the fluid and holding the up button on the motor it started sounding better but still wouldn't move. Down still sounds bad. I tried this a couple times but gave up. Here is a video of the struggling sounds it's making: https://streamable.com/t82r8f
Any advice? TIA

 

[racerone]

Is manual release tight ?----Seals / o-rings OK on manual release screw?

 

[Netfish&Chill]

Is manual release tight ?----Seals / o-rings OK on manual release screw?

It was, but I tried loosening it to see if that might help. Should it be as tight as possible? And yes, seals seem fine

 

[Netfish&Chill]

Is manual release tight ?----Seals / o-rings OK on manual release screw?

OK so I went out there again (after pumping in new hydraulic fluid earlier in the day) and really tightened the manual release screw and it was able to go up. It struggled going down, but if I loosened the manual screw a bit and it seemed to knock it loose and it went up and down. Bled the air out and added more fluid a few times, and noticed old dirty looking fluid coming out. Bled/refilled until now it's dripping only clear fluid.
it's not 100% but it's kind of working now. If it goes all the way up as high as it allows, it can't come back down using the motor without backing off the manual release screw a bit and immediately retightening it. Then it shimmies all the way down.
Also, attached is a pic of what looks like a sensor arm that might not be aligned properly or possibly came off the spring? I'm not sure what that cable is for. Thank you!

 

[racerone]

The thingy with the arm is the sending unit for trim gauge.----Cable is a ground.

 

[Netfish&Chill]

The thingy with the arm is the sending unit for trim gauge.----Cable is a ground.

should the sending unit for the trim gauge be in a certain position? I can't tell if it's off the spring or if it's OK