New Mercury 20HP 4S will not tilt up

[landlover42]

I took delivery of a new (2021) Mercury 20HP four stroke last week. It is a short shaft, tiller, manual tilt and manual start model. The dealer went through all of the basics but unfortunately I did not request a tilt up. I put it on an engine stand in the garage and was not able to work with it until yesterday. I have not run it yet, just getting familiar with basic operation.

The engine will not tilt up, it is locked in the down position. As instructed by the manual, I put it in the forward gear and unlock the tilt lever by pressing it down. It is still locked and will not tilt up. I can verify that it is shifted into forward because the propeller will not spin. I have a call into the dealer but was curious if anyone had heard of this syndrome. I have looked at the tilt lever mechanism, I see some small movement of the lock but it is difficult to see what is happening. I imagine if I hoist the motor off the stand I would be better able to see what was going on and I could simulate tilting by just pulling on the transom bracket.

thanks very much for any ideas,

 

[landlover42]

SOLVED!
Turns out the large 1" tension nut on the shaft connecting the transom bracket to the motor was over tightened at the factory preventing tilt. Loosened nut, all works now.

 

[RMClark]

Glad you got it solved.

I bought a 2021 20HP Merc this past year, though mine has electric start. Love it. It's enough to push my 14' Lund around the small and medium sized lakes on the hunt for fish. Real easy on gas and quiet running.