Tilt issue, 1983 ebb tide 16'

[Shilorx]

I purchased this boat last weekend with the following known issue but I was probably given misinformation/suckered on this. It is a 1983 ebb tide 16' with 3.8l mercruiser (Buick) engine. So, I have never owned an I/O before only outboards. It has a separate switch for trim and tilt. The trim works fine but the tilt is inoperable. He showed me that you can raise and lower the outdrive by hand. It takes quite a bit of effort to do so but I can do it by myself by pulling up or pushing down on the outside unit. Once it is up or down, it stays in position and it drives fine at wot without moving on its own and goes in reverse just fine again without changing position. He said he cleaned the brushes on the trim motor and it worked for a couple of weeks but stopped working again. I can hear clicks when you push the control toggle for the tilt but no motor sounds. My questions..... Should I be able to manually put up and down the motor? If not, what do I need to look at first for repair.....? Is this something that can wait until the end of season or will it ruin anything to not address this immediately? Thanks so much for your input.

 

[sti1471]

I have never tries to raise and lower by outdrive by hand, however off the top of my head I could say no, you should not be able to. Those are 2 hydraulic arms and as all hydraulic arms, they are very strong and usually hold their position. I guess it depends how much force it requires you to do in order to move them.

Just to start eliminating some things, locate the hydraulic pump inside the boat (usually to the starboard of the engine). Clean all the connections with a wire brush, or just cut 1/2" of the wire and crimp on new leads. If that does not work, remove the 12v leads from the pump and touch it to the switch lead and see if it activates the motor. If it does not then take a wire and run it right from the battery and touch it to the switch lead of the hydraulic pump and see if it works.

If it does work, then follow the wire and check for an inline fuse or something that might be blown, or check if the switch is bad.

Does your boat have a tilt switch on the dash AND on the control lever? On my boat when I first bought it, the dash switch would move the trim down but not up, and the control lever switch would move the trim up but not down. See if either switch can move the unit up or down.

I do not think that this is something that needs to be done ASAP, however if there is a leak or something in the arms / hydraulic motor and they stop holding their position then you could be in a pretty bad place out in the middle of the lake.

 

[alldodge]

I purchased this boat last weekend with the following known issue but I was probably given misinformation/suckered on this. It is a 1983 ebb tide 16' with 3.8l mercruiser (Buick) engine. So, I have never owned an I/O before only outboards. It has a separate switch for trim and tilt. The trim works fine but the tilt is inoperable. He showed me that you can raise and lower the outdrive by hand. It takes quite a bit of effort to do so but I can do it by myself by pulling up or pushing down on the outside unit. Once it is up or down, it stays in position and it drives fine at wot without moving on its own and goes in reverse just fine again without changing position. He said he cleaned the brushes on the trim motor and it worked for a couple of weeks but stopped working again. I can hear clicks when you push the control toggle for the tilt but no motor sounds. My questions..... Should I be able to manually put up and down the motor? If not, what do I need to look at first for repair.....? Is this something that can wait until the end of season or will it ruin anything to not address this immediately? Thanks so much for your input.

:welcome: to iboats

No, you should not be able to move the drive up and down by hand. From the sounds of it your pump is shot. Download the manual in the link and run through the troubleshooting area.

http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews...20Eighteen.PDF

Yes, you can wait to fix it, but there could be other things if it goes out all the way. If you loose all hydraulics then when going forward the drive will be next to the transom. Only issue with that is your bow will be all the way down and you will be burning a lot of fuel. When you go in reverse the drive could some out of the water as the prop spins. This can and is dangerous but if you keep it only at idle you should be OK. If it totally goes out you will have to prop up the drive so it won't drag on the trailer.

 

[Bondo]

I purchased this boat last weekend with the following known issue but I was probably given misinformation/suckered on this. It is a 1983 ebb tide 16' with 3.8l mercruiser (Buick) engine. So, I have never owned an I/O before only outboards. It has a separate switch for trim and tilt. The trim works fine but the tilt is inoperable. He showed me that you can raise and lower the outdrive by hand. It takes quite a bit of effort to do so but I can do it by myself by pulling up or pushing down on the outside unit. Once it is up or down, it stays in position and it drives fine at wot without moving on its own and goes in reverse just fine again without changing position. He said he cleaned the brushes on the trim motor and it worked for a couple of weeks but stopped working again. I can hear clicks when you push the control toggle for the tilt but no motor sounds. My questions..... Should I be able to manually put up and down the motor? If not, what do I need to look at first for repair.....? Is this something that can wait until the end of season or will it ruin anything to not address this immediately? Thanks so much for your input.

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,.... Are ya sure that ain't an OMC motor, 'n OMC Stringer drive,..??

Mercruiser, Never used a Buick motor,.... OMC, did,....
Stringer drives also have separate trim, 'n tilt systems,.... Merc uses hyd. rams on the drive,...

 

[Shilorx]

Ummmm, I believe it is the Buick motor in the boat, 3.8l but I will verify. The trim switch and tilt switch are separated-one on the throttle and one below, not on the dash. The trim, which moves/tilts the engine itself up and down works but the trim does nothing. I am such a rookie with this so I will verify both outboard portion and engine this evening.

 

[Bondo]

Ummmm, I believe it is the Buick motor in the boat, 3.8l but I will verify. The trim switch and tilt switch are separated-one on the throttle and one below, not on the dash. The trim, which moves/tilts the engine itself up and down works but the trim does nothing. I am such a rookie with this so I will verify both outboard portion and engine this evening.

Ayuh,.... You have an OMC stringer drive, I'll move this to the OMC forum for ya,.....

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

The last year OMC used a Buick engine was 1972.
A 1983 OMC 3.8 is Chevrolet engine.

 

[Bondo]

The last year OMC used a Buick engine was 1972.
A 1983 OMC 3.8 is Chevrolet engine.

Ayuh,.... Still a Stringer drive, 'n ALL these replies are to a Merc Alpha,....

 

[southkogs]

Trim system on yours is probably hydraulic (on the side of the engine), and I'm not gonna' be a lot of help on that. If it's the jack-screw gig on the front I can give ya' a push though.

As for the tilt: If you want to run the boat even while the tilt motor isn't working that shouldn't be a major problem, but it will be a little bit of a hassle. I wouldn't push or pull the drive ... in fact, if you can it may mean your clutch pack is in trouble. Rather, remove the three bolts holding the drive to the big quadrant gear on the port side of the drive. You'll need to catch the gear and you can lift the drive. Set the gear in place and re-bolt. It's a real juggling act in the water and much easier if you have help. To lower the drive - reverse the process.

The tilt motor is inside the transom on the port side waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy back at the intermediate housing. Chances are you need to have the motor rebuilt or replaced. You can test power going from the solenoids to the motor first to save you some work.

Ya' got a manual for it?