Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

[Flowconpc]

Hi all

I am new to this forum and also new to boating . I am not sure if I am having trim problems or if I am just doing something wrong. I have checked the pump reservoir and filled it to the proper level as directed by the owners manual.


Here is my problem , I am unable to get the boat motor to trim up or down. When I press the trailer switch , I can hear the motor or at least a strong sound that tells me something is trying to be actuated . However nothing happens .

I have pushed the trailer switched and depressed the up / down button at the same time but again nothing happens. I believe that the unit does work because when I picked it up , the motor was in the full up position without a transom saver holding it in that position.

I have lifted this monster 300 pound motor manually many times to put the
transom savor back in place , what a job that was . I then found that by turning the small knurled knob at the trim pump that it would raise much easier , but again , will not stay up by itself. I am at the end of my rope here
and hope that someone can walk me through what I must be doing wrong.


Is their a lock of some type on this motor that locks it in the up position for trailering , if so , where is it ? And is there a chance that it could still be in the locked position and is why the trim will not work ?

My Boat is a 1983 Skeeter Starfire 115 with 115 HP two stroke Mercury outboard . Sn# on engine is 6300471 .


Thank You all in advance .

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

That knurled knob is your manual release valve. Pull it out and make sure all the "O" rings are good. When you replace it make sure it is very snug. Raise and lower the motor several times to bleed any air in it out. BTW, that uses 30 weight motor oil.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

Flow, There is a tilt lock on the midsection. It looks like 2 dog-eared shaped pieces of steel. They can only be used to hold the motor all the way up. Sometimes they rust, bend or break and jam up the midsection.

It is also possible that you have air in the trim cylinders. They are not self-bleeding.

 

[Flowconpc]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

That knurled knob is your manual release valve. Pull it out and make sure all the "O" rings are good. When you replace it make sure it is very snug. Raise and lower the motor several times to bleed any air in it out. BTW, that uses 30 weight motor oil.

Thanks for the response , let me ask you this , when I removed the knurled knob , is that when I should manually move the motor to the full up position ? Also , how is the hydraulic pump oil removed , is their some type of drain plug ? The gentleman that I bought this boat from had me fill it with 10 - 40 Motor oil. Do you think that this is part of my problem ? Especially during this extreme cold spell we are having . Oil possibly way to viscous ? Can you tell me how to bleed the lines down as well ? This way I can start fresh.


Thank you so much for your help

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

SAE 30 motor oil is thicker at low temps than 10W-40 oil. That PTT unit originally called for 5W-30 oil. Check to make sure the PO did not use ATF or something. ATF is acceptable, BTW.

The pump is self-bleeding. Just keep it full while you bleed the cylinders. There are 2 bleed screws on each cylinder. These must face up to allow air to escape. One bleed screw is on the top end of the cylinder. Open this screw and run the pump in the down direction until all air is out. Repeat for other cylinder. Now remove cylinder and find the bleed screw next to the spot where the hoses bolt on. Face it up and run the pump in the up direction until all the air is gone. Repeat with the other sylinder.

That all there is to bleeding the system.

 

[Flowconpc]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

SAE 30 motor oil is thicker at low temps than 10W-40 oil. That PTT unit originally called for 5W-30 oil. Check to make sure the PO did not use ATF or something. ATF is acceptable, BTW.

The pump is self-bleeding. Just keep it full while you bleed the cylinders. There are 2 bleed screws on each cylinder. These must face up to allow air to escape. One bleed screw is on the top end of the cylinder. Open this screw and run the pump in the down direction until all air is out. Repeat for other cylinder. Now remove cylinder and find the bleed screw next to the spot where the hoses bolt on. Face it up and run the pump in the up direction until all the air is gone. Repeat with the other sylinder.

That all there is to bleeding the system.

I am a little confused with this last sentence , are you saying that I must remove the ram , Cylinder ?

Thanks again

Now remove cylinder and find the bleed screw next to the spot where the hoses bolt on.

 

[Flowconpc]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

Flow, There is a tilt lock on the midsection. It looks like 2 dog-eared shaped pieces of steel. They can only be used to hold the motor all the way up. Sometimes they rust, bend or break and jam up the midsection.

It is also possible that you have air in the trim cylinders. They are not self-bleeding.

Hi Chris

I think I have seen the dog ears you are talking about , both seem to be painted black and are an L shape . They swivel up and down right ? I still do not know how to use them in the lock motor up position. Am I not getting the motor up high enough to lock them in place ? they seem to want to rest on a cam of some type , is this correct ? If so , I just don't know how to do it and my book does not explain it at all.



Thanks again for the help

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

Run the trim up all the way. Now lift the motor more, until you can swivel the bent section to rest on the transom bracket. The two tilt lock pieces should be connected together. A lot of times the link rusts away, and they don't work as designed.

 

[Flowconpc]

Re: Trim Problems on 1983 Mercury two stroke

SAE 30 motor oil is thicker at low temps than 10W-40 oil. That PTT unit originally called for 5W-30 oil. Check to make sure the PO did not use ATF or something. ATF is acceptable, BTW.

The pump is self-bleeding. Just keep it full while you bleed the cylinders. There are 2 bleed screws on each cylinder. These must face up to allow air to escape. One bleed screw is on the top end of the cylinder. Open this screw and run the pump in the down direction until all air is out. Repeat for other cylinder. Now remove cylinder and find the bleed screw next to the spot where the hoses bolt on. Face it up and run the pump in the up direction until all the air is gone. Repeat with the other sylinder.

That all there is to bleeding the system.

Well , after much frustration , I took the boat in to a boat repair facility , They found that it had a collapsed hydraulic hose , they replaced the hose with a new one , and it works great.