78 Johnson Trim Leaking

[DeltaCruisin]

Took my boat out last weekend and noticed red fluid was leaking on my driveway. I did some investigation today and I believe the culprit is one of the hydraulic lines on the trim system. It is a thin, hard steel line that screws into one of the hydraulic reservoirs. I tried an assortment of box wrenches and a very thin pair of needle nose pliers and can’t seem to get enough leverage on it to tighten it. There is almost zero space to get anything to turn on the bolt. Does anyone have any suggestions? It’s a 78 Johnson 115.

 

[jimmbo]

You need to use a Tubing Wrench. it looks like a 5 1/8 sided box end wrench. These wrenches will prevent rounding of the Hex. You might have to do some customizing of the wrench to get clearances needed

 

[DeltaCruisin]

I managed to customize a box wrench into something that could be used to tighten it, but it still leaks when I use the trim. If I remove it completely to replace the o-ring, will it be under hydraulic pressure? I’d hate to have a huge amount of pressure release when I unscrew it.

Warning: I am not a metalsmith