Creaking/popping power trim

[3ric]

My new to me 2018 Mercury 150 four stroke makes a creaking/ popping sound when I raise and lower the motor. I can’t seem to isolate the sound, but I think it might be coming from the power trim hydraulic ram. That being said, I can’t find a single grease zerk on the thing. The parts diagram shows it to have one, but doesn’t show where it goes. It does seem to leak a bit of fluid out the ram.

Q1: where/how do I lubricate the hinge
Q2: Any ideas on the problem or remedy for the creaking/popping

 

[Dukedog]

check tha little "roller" type balls at tha end of tha trim rods and tha pads on tha sadle they ride on.......

 

[tphoyt]

Any chance its the tilt tube?

 

[racerone]

salt water operation?

 

[3ric]

Any chance its the tilt tube?

Certainly a chance. I ran it up and down several times, assuming that was the source, but I just couldn’t get a positive ID. But like I said, there doesn’t seem to be any means of greasing the tube

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, most outboard motors have a grease fitting for both the swivel bracket and the tilt tube. You might look closer. Some OBs have other zerks for other things. I.E. My '77 Merc had a zerc for the distributor movement in addition to the zerk for the swivel and trim pivots. My '93 Merc has a zerk for the tilt lock, in addition to the other normal stuff.

 

[3ric]

salt water operation?

I don’t think so. The previous owner said no, but he also failed to mention the severely bent prop shaft that I overlooked, but I’m confident he was aware of. But i bought the boat in east Texas, so certainly plausible

 

[3ric]

Gee, most outboard motors have a grease fitting for both the swivel bracket and the tilt tube. You might look closer. Some OBs have other zerks for other things. I.E. My '77 Merc had a zerc for the distributor movement in addition to the zerk for the swivel and trim pivots. My '93 Merc has a zerk for the tilt lock, in addition to the other normal stuff.

Right!? But I looked in all the usual places. The swivel has a zerk. So far, the only zerk I have found. Maybe the tilt tube has sealed bearings?

 

[That old Mercury]

My new to me 2018 Mercury 150 four stroke makes a creaking/ popping sound when I raise and lower the motor. I can’t seem to isolate the sound, but I think it might be coming from the power trim hydraulic ram. That being said, I can’t find a single grease zerk on the thing. The parts diagram shows it to have one, but doesn’t show where it goes. It does seem to leak a bit of fluid out the ram.

Q1: where/how do I lubricate the hinge
Q2: Any ideas on the problem or remedy for the creaking/popping

On an older mercury mine creaking and popping was coming from the main cylinder pins , they go into fiber bushings . You may have a cover on each side with 2 bolts holding it on. You can try wd40 .
No grease fittings on mine.
Mine was only in fresh water.
And i did burn up the trim pump motor using it while it was creaking and popping.
I wound up pulling off one side bracket at a time with motor suspened sanding cylinder pin cleaning bushing and drowning it in marine grease , put it back and bolt it back to boat then done the other side.
It is a trunion cylinder on mine so the pins are made onto the cylinder
on mine i could drive the pin out .
Its a Pain!
If its the pin and bushing sticking
Pay someone to do it !
The slide plates are Hard to get off that pin.
Hopefully you just have some air in the lines and you are hearing that noise.

 

[3ric]

On an older mercury mine creaking and popping was coming from the main cylinder pins , they go into fiber bushings . You may have a cover on each side with 2 bolts holding it on. You can try wd40 .
No grease fittings on mine.
Mine was only in fresh water.
And i did burn up the trim pump motor using it while it was creaking and popping.
I wound up pulling off one side bracket at a time with motor suspened sanding cylinder pin cleaning bushing and drowning it in marine grease , put it back and bolt it back to boat then done the other side.
It is a trunion cylinder on mine so the pins are made onto the cylinder
on mine i could drive the pin out .
Its a Pain!
If its the pin and bushing sticking
Pay someone to do it !
The slide plates are Hard to get off that pin.
Hopefully you just have some air in the lines and you are hearing that noise.

Thanks, the fam an I went on vacation this week, when I get back I’ll see if I can isolate the sound to those areas. Hopefully just some wd-40, as you say

 

[That old Mercury]

Thanks, the fam an I went on vacation this week, when I get back I’ll see if I can isolate the sound to those areas. Hopefully just some wd-40, as you say

Have a Great Vacation and stay safe!

 

[3ric]

Back from a great vacation. I tried just squinting some pb blaster on the joints and it smoothed up pretty good. But per my usual course, my neurotic nature got the best of me and I removed the whole thing to replace the seals. So here we go with

 

[Jeff J]

One of the boats I look after has a zerk on the starboard end of the pivot tube but not on the port end. Another one doesn’t have any. Most have one on each end.

I have a few motors in the fleet that creak and pop trimmed or tilted up. They have been that way since before I joined the program. Zerk fittings get greased at least twice a season with Mercury grease. I just replaced a trim motor on one last week that creaks and pops bad (2012 Suzuki DF250). One of the worst offenders is in the shop now for a power surge so I will have a look at the items mentioned above too. Thanks.

 

[3ric]

So since the ram was leaking a bit, I ended up pulling the whole thing off to replace some seals in the ram. In doing so, I found there was some rust in the bottom pivot pin. I am pretty sure that was the source of the sounds. I greased the pin up and re assembled, no more noise. I wish I knew why there is not grease zeros on those upper and lower hinges.

 

[Jeff J]

Good question on the grease fitting for the pivots. After I made my comment above, one of the new Hondas came through. No popping yet but It creaks. One year old motor with 120 hours sounding just like some that are 7-8 years old with over 1200 hours.

I sprayed a silicone lube on the rams for one of the Suzukis and it improved significantly but did not eliminate the creaking. I don’t know how long it will last.

 

[crazedalizamg]

On an older mercury mine creaking and popping was coming from the main cylinder pins , they go into fiber bushings . You may have a cover on each side with 2 bolts holding it on. You can try wd40 .
No grease fittings on mine.
Mine was only in fresh water.
And i did burn up the trim pump motor using it while it was creaking and popping.
I wound up pulling off one side bracket at a time with motor suspened sanding cylinder pin cleaning bushing and drowning it in marine grease , put it back and bolt it back to boat then done the other side.
It is a trunion cylinder on mine so the pins are made onto the cylinder
on mine i could drive the pin out .
Its a Pain!
If its the pin and bushing sticking
Pay someone to do it !
The slide plates are Hard to get off that pin. I also thought then that I could get by with a regular VDshka, but without a complete disassembly and high-quality marine lubricant, nothing will help there. It's still a bit of a mess, but when you sort everything out and it works smoothly again, you feel real joy and relief. It's like finding a cool tip or bonus that saves a lot of time and lifts your spirits. By the way, for a good rest after such hard work, you can check out the $200 offer guide on AussCasinosAnalyzer.com, where there are many interesting and profitable options for entertainment. Did you use regular lubricant or some special waterproof one?
Hopefully you just have some air in the lines and you are hearing that noise.

When it starts to creak and crackle, it's better to get in there right away, because a burned-out pump is a separate expense item.