volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

[jaknkoke]

Owned this 1979' (motor is actually early 90's I've been told) for about a month now and have never owned a boat before. Have fixed a few fairly major problems.
Here is the latest. My outdrive has been working fine lifting and lowering as far as I know but has seemed a little slow since I bought the boat. Assumed I didnt know any better. Maybe I was correct. Hit the switch to lift it yesterday and it sounds like it is working but doesnt move at all. I noticed the little catch at the bottom disconnects during normal use when I hit the switch. It is not disconnecting now. This latch is not the problem however, because if I disengage it by hand, the outdrive still doesnt go up. Is it possible that I am just low on hydraulic fluid or is it something to do with the pump. How/where do I check the fluid level and fill if necessary?
Thanks for any help.
Jaknkoke.

 

[captmello]

Re: volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

I'm pretty sure you don't have a hydraulic trim/tilt, just an electro mechanical lift. If you follow the noise it makes when you flip the switch, the noise should lead you to the titl assembly, which is mounted at the rear port side of the motor. The assembly goes through the transom shield and pushes the outdrive up. Try raising the outdrive manually and then try raising the outdrive to see if the tilt machanism is working at all. The foot and vice rod should extend out of the transom shield. If it still doesn't extend with no weight from the outdrive, you will need to pull the titl assembly and figure out what's wrong with it. Let us know what you find.

 

[jaknkoke]

Re: volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

Glad to hear from you again Mello. You are correct of course about it not being hydraulic. 2:45 am. Just came in from working on the lift system. I figured out exactly what you just posted about before I read your post. Sure wish I would have read your post first! I removed the small motor that drives the threaded shaft to see if it was working properly. It seemed to be. I took the electronics box off of the top of the shaft that encases the worm drive shaft that pushes the out-drive, unscrewed the cap bolt and pulled it up. There is some kind of aftermarket angle iron frame that holds the steering mechanism that would not allow me to take the cap all the way off but could see the shaft when I pulled the cap up as far as I could. I then placed some vice grips on the shaft and tried to turn it. It would not budge either direction with as much pressure as I could muster and feel comfortable I wasn't damaging the threads. I then started rocking it back and forth and it broke free but would only turn back and forth approximately 1/2". I then lifted the out-drive up by hand and tied it up out of the way, operated the tilt switch and the shaft started operating. I dropped the out-drive back down and operated the switch again. It would lift but only about 1/2 way up. My son worked the switch up and down until at one point on the way down there was sort of a loud "snap" sound and the out-drive seemed to drop 1-2" inches all at once. When he operated it back up, the OD lifted up to its full range and seems to be working fine now. With further investigation I noticed that inside the electronics box at the top of the shaft there is a switch button that seems to me would be a shutoff switch for when the od is all the way down. When I depress this switch manually with the box off, the motor still runs. Am I correct in assuming that this is a kill switch and that when depressed the motor should shut off? If this is true, is it possible that with the switch not working that the worm drive shaft could have screwed itself so tight into the housing that it froze up?
I want to thank you for your input earlier, and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on these questions, and if what I am asking is not the case, what your thoughts might be beyond.
Thanks again, your advice has been invaluable.
Jaknkoke--

 

[captmello]

Re: volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

First of all, the vice rod does not turn! It is keyed into the housing and is supposed to slide up and down. The rest of the mechanism turns. I hope you haven't damaged it further...

You are correct about the limit switch you found in the relay box. It is there to keep the vice rod from going too far and damaging the top of the housing as the outdrive is lowered. I'm not positive, but I think the outdrive will still go up with the switch depressed, but not down. If it goes both ways with the limit switch pressed, then yes, its bad.

Note- when you reinstall the relay box, don't overtighten the through bolts. If you do it can also effect the limit switch causing it to not work properly. Just tighten the bolts enough to keep the box from moving up and down. It will still seem loose on the housing and turn freely on the lift housing.

Regarding the sudden 1-2 inch drop, I would watch from the back of the boat and see if the foot of the lift is binding on the arm of the outdrive that has the release rod for the outdrive lockdown mechanism.

Be gentle with the tilt mechanism. They are worth their weight in in gold on ebay.

http://forums.iboats.com/volvo-penta-i-o-inboard-gas-engines-outdrives/volvo-penta-275-tilt-mechanism-rebuild-307304.html

 

[jaknkoke]

Re: volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

Ahhhhh! makes sense now. was drinking my homemade blackberry wine while working last nite. Thanks

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: volvo penta hydraulic issues aq 151 with a 270 outdrive

That switch in the box.It also works the light.Telling you it's all the way down.