88 Force 125 Trim pump issues

anelson1995

Cadet
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
8
Ok, here is the diary of a first time boat owner.

I bought an 88 Bayliner Bass Trophy with a Force 125 on it from my cousin. When I got it, everything worked fine except for a slow leak down (bet you have never heard that before, yeah right). So I decide to take apart the valve body with some phone help from my cousin who still has the manual. I get the valve body off and with some internet help as well, I take apart the valve body. I saw the bb's and springs and some debris. Cleaned it up and put the parts back the way they appeared to have been and installed. It wouldn't go up or down for either the tilt or trim. For the record my cousin replaced the pump last fall. He said the leak down started a few weeks ago. So it won't do anything. Checked and swapped relays, both good. Motor runs fine up and down. Switch and current are good. I assume I did something wrong when I put it back together. I did some reading on the internet and found out that my pump should have 3 smaller bb's and 1 larger one, one smaller spring and one larger one. I was missing a bb that must have fallen out. I took everything back off and reinstalled with a new bb. I then decided to replace the o-rings in the manual release and shuttle. I get everything apart, rings all replaced, shuttle moving freely, installed release valves and snap rings. Now I have up with both the trim and tilt. I have no leak down. However, the trim down works but the tilt down does not. I cycled it and checked fluids but still nothing. Checked relays again, still fine. I took off lines and found that when trying to tilt down, only the trim line is pumping fluid. The tilt line has just a few drips coming out of the pump. I blocked off the lines to check the trim and tilt cylinders and both are good. I'm down to the pump and since the up and down both worked before I worked on it, except the leak down, I must have put the bb's in wrong or something is up with the back manual release. There were four shims behind the spring for the large bb when I took it apart and they are back in properly. I'm lost. Any pictures or diagrams of the internal bb and spring locations would be great so I can rule that out. I'm thinking about hooking up the down tilt line to the down trim line since it is pumping and see what I've got. I'm at a loss and have a full tank of gas I'd like to burn off before winter. I appreciate all the help I can get.

anelson1995@comcast.net
 

RRitt

Captain
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: 88 Force 125 Trim pump issues

trim down and tilt down are the same fluid path. you've got blockage or defect related to rear manual release valve.
 

anelson1995

Cadet
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
8
Re: 88 Force 125 Trim pump issues

After reading your post I pulled both relief valves and the shuttle valve back out. Checked for any obstructions and found nothing. To help with the process of elimination I swapped the relief valves and put everything back together. Still same problem. I have up but no down. Before I put it back together I blew air into it and I could hear the shuttle move. If I'm right (for a change) the fluid for up (both lines) goes through the front relief valve. The fluid for the down is different. It looks like the fluid for the trim goes around the shuttle and the fluid for the tilt goes throught the relief valve. The trim line has plenty of pressure but the tilt line has just a trickle. It almost seems as if the shuttle needle isn't going into the rear relief valve far enough to open it. Does this make sense and if so, what can I do? I have taken the front valve back off and turned the shuttle around and still same thing. When I had it apart the relief valve needles opened and closed fine. Thanks again for the help.
 

RRitt

Captain
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: 88 Force 125 Trim pump issues

the purpose of the shuttle is to open opposite release valve so that back pressure can escape. it is doubtful that problem is shuttle. it it was shuttle then neither tilt nor trim would retract. if it is not blockage or defect in release valve (or port) then I would need to see pump in order to troubleshoot. too many things that could go wrong to properly analyze over the internet.
 
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