mercruiser trim fluid

[ziggy]

got me a '75, 165hp L6 mercruiser....

looks like i might be devoloping a leak in my trim system. don't know where yet. i'd like to add a little fluid. i'm low. service manual calls for SE 20w. i've tried two major auto parts store + the mercruiser dealer. no luck yet. dealer told me to use 20w or 30w or mercruiser tilt and trim fluid. the mercruiser tilt and trim fluid he says will mix with anything. this i can aquire easy. i don't know what is there now. i've not had issue till now... looks like motor oil at the very least. is nice and clean. but i've got no way of knowing much more than that. i'd really like to use the SE 20w but if i can't get any.... any suggestions?

 

[erikgreen]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

My trim unit says I can use 10w30 in it... so I use that.

It's one of the older mercruiser units.

Erik

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

It's a simple hydraulic pump/actuator. You can use almost any petroleum based oil in it.

Transmission fluid works good since it's red and leaks are easy to identify.


Regards,


Rick

 

[ziggy]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

thanks guys. i understand that near anything will work in this system. i just would prefer to not mix and match. and since i don't know what's there, i was gonna assume the po used the proper lub. as for reading the pump itself. i can barley get to my fill hole due to location. let alone read what the pump itself says. i've looked in two different release dates of service manual #2 and both are specifying SAE 20w, SE. this is stated in the trim system repair section 7. under sec. 1 lubrication. it says use formula 4 quicksilver oil (C-92-65187-24). don't know what that is but if my guess is right, it'd be SAE 20w SE.
just talked with a petroleum dealer here too. he says 20w is obsolete. his suggestion was 30w.... i need to find out what formula 4 is and what tilt and trim fluid is before i just give up and do 30w.......

 

[ziggy]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

well, my local mercruiser dealer came through again. what a great bunch of guys at my local dealer. they sure have been helpful. so i go in wanting to know what this tilt and trim fluid is. oil or hyd. fluid. dealer says open up a can and see. the bottle surely said it was for most mercruiser trim systems and that it'd mix with anything that was there before. well, opened it up and it looked like hydrolic fluid. dealer says, yep, if i was working on your rig, that's what it'd get... so i pressed him further. i says, well, i got this number, can ya see where this leads ya. i googled that number and got zero hits. well, after thirty (so the dealer says) supersedes. he found that in the end it superseded to 25w-40 mercruiser engine oil. so that's what i'm gonna use. what's in my system looks like motor oil and i just didn't think it'd be the thing to do to mix hydrolic fluid with it... i'm much happier now.... the dealer comes through again. thanks preimer boating center for going the extra mile to find what i think is most likely the proper thing to use for my application + letting me open a bottle of tilt and trim fluid and not buying it so i could find out what it was...... that to me is going the extra mile for the customer.....

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

I would stick with the 10W30 or straight 20W oil if you ever want to boat in cold weather. The engine oil weights changed over the years. But the 25W40 blended oil IS going to slow down you pump when it gets colder.
Don't overthink that pump. It's old and designed for the thinner oils.

 

[ziggy]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

well, 20w woulda been what i wanted to use if i coulda found some, but i couldn't......

i thought i was done thinking about it.....

10w30 is what i used. your note on cold weather operation caused me to think again. oh my......

thanks for the input peoples.......

now to go find the leak..... took me forever to find the leak on the last boat i had....... hope i can find this one easier....

 

[mthieme]

Re: mercruiser trim fluid

Mine goes through the PS unit, so I use transmission fluid - Dextron.