Cant tilt

[harddock]

I have just bought a boat with a 99 C40LTRX. When delivered motor was locked in up position. Trim does nothing but maybe make a relay sound when pushed up or down. I wanted to lower motor to start on a hose. I manually raised a bit & released the lock bar and motor came down. Now when I go to manually raise it goes up just a little and seems like its hitting something or something will not allow it to continue. I have loosened the relief screw but that does not seem to make a difference. How can I get the motor up?

[99yam40]

without much other info I would guess it is low on fluid so it cannot lift the motor all the way up.
it was physically up high but could not lift high enough to release the lock, so it is not binding up

[harddock]

The motor is all the way down. I can't move boat untill I can raise motor. I can't lift motor manually any higher than it would trim. That is when and where it stops. I don't think I can even add fluid with motor down. I don't know any other history other than boat sat out of water fror a few seasons. I don't know if relay issue or pump issue. I need to raise motor to take boat to mechanic. Loosening the relief screw does not make any difference.

[99yam40]

does the TT&T motor run and bind up once the trim is used up, but does not raise the motor anymore?
does it run but does not change sound when it stops moving?
or does the relay just click and the electric T&T motor does not run?

can you back the boat up to shallow water so you can grab the lower unit to lift with release open?
might need a second set of hands helping to lift

make sure the battery is fully charged also when using the T&T

[harddock]

There is a click when switch is pressed either up or down but that's it. I guessing that is the relay. Nothing else happens. No motor noise, no partial electric lifting of any kind. Battery starts boat just fine. Boat is out of water on a trailer. This is a pontoon boat that had been sitting on tires with motor raised (for a couple seasons I think) when I bought it. It was started but because it was on ground I never checked tilt or trim function. When boat was delivered motor was all up and lock bar engaged. Once I got my trailer under it I manually lifted the motor enough to and unlocked the bar to drop motor down. It came down like a non electric tilt model would. I had not touched the relief screw. Now I cant budge it more than several inches manually when it then becomes impossible to lift any higher. I tried loosening the vent screw but that made no difference. I don't know how better to explain what is not happening. You mention "release open" Is that the screw that is suppose to relieve pressure? If so, that doesen't make a difference. Or is there some other "release" I'm not engaging?

[DennisG01]

Check the throttle/shift lever. It might be in reverse - which locks the motor in the down/run position. Put it in neutral (or forward). If you look closer (inside the bracket area of the engine) you should be able to see the mechanism. If your motor isn't tied into the shift cable, then there could be a separate lever on the engine - look on the front side and/or possible the sides - roughly, just below the engine cowl. Sometimes this is labelled something like "run/tilt".

EDIT: Resubmitted as my first post got labelled as "spam" after I added more info...

If this function IS tied into the shift cable, then it might somehow be jammed in reverse... which means the prop would only spin in one direction (by hand).

Note that I am assuming your engine has this feature, as based on the info you provided, it sounds logical. But I'll mention that, I "thought" once engines had power tilt, that they didn't use that locking feature anymore? Maybe it was originally a manual tilt and someone added the power tilt?

Either way, from what you have written, it sounds like you are saying it being mechanically limited to tilting up by hand - look for obstructions. Since the engine went down so easily, by itself, obviously something is amiss with the power tilt - whether it's low on fluid (which means a leak), or there's something else inside going on, it's not right.

Thinking outloud... there could be something wrong inside the tilt cylinder and that's what's locking up. Possibly, being so low on fluid allowed the interior tilt mechanism (piston) to get coc*eyed - basically jammed up.

[DennisG01]

EDIT: Resubmitted as my first post got labelled as "spam" after I added more info... (twice, now)

Check the throttle/shift lever. It might be in reverse - which locks the motor in the down/run position. Put it in neutral (or forward). If you look closer (inside the bracket area of the engine) you should be able to see the mechanism. If your motor isn't tied into the shift cable, then there could be a separate lever on the engine - look on the front side and/or possible the sides - roughly, just below the engine cowl. Sometimes this is labelled something like "run/tilt".

If this function IS tied into the shift cable, then it might somehow be jammed in reverse... which means the prop would only spin in one direction (by hand).

Note that I am assuming your engine has this feature, as based on the info you provided, it sounds logical. But I'll mention that, I "thought" once engines had power tilt, that they didn't use that locking feature anymore? Maybe it was originally a manual tilt and someone added the power tilt?

Either way, from what you have written, it sounds like you are saying it being mechanically limited to tilting up by hand - look for obstructions. Since the engine went down so easily, by itself, obviously something is amiss with the power tilt - whether it's low on fluid (which means a leak), or there's something else inside going on, it's not right.

Thinking outloud... there could be something wrong inside the tilt cylinder and that's what's locking up. Possibly, being so low on fluid allowed the interior tilt mechanism (piston) to get coc*eyed - basically jammed up.

[99yam40]

The C40TLRX does not have what Dennis is talking about,
I have this motor also, and the T&T is all that controls the tilting and trimming.
a bad connection or low battery can keep the T&T from working, but if you cannot hear any motor noise from the T&T motor and pump, then either the relay is not making good electrical contact inside, the wiring to the motor is bad/disconnected, or the motor itself is bad.

you can always disconnect the wiring to the motor and try jumping it to a good battery to see if the motor will turn.

I would contact the guy you bought it from and ask what is wrong with the T&T and what he did to get it into the up position to ship it to you.

there is a screw on the port side of the T&T unit you can get to with a screw driver thru a hole in the mounting bracket, to turn and release the hydrolics to move the motor up and down, but if the motor dropped as you said when you released the tilt lock, then the hydrolics are not doing anything at all

[harddock]

So no trick or solution on how to get it up?

[DennisG01]

Thanks for the clarification on the tilt lock. Too bad - that would have been an easy solution!

but if the motor dropped as you said when you released the tilt lock, then the hydrolics are not doing anything at all

That's the weird part. That's why I was starting to think that it must be so low on fluid that the piston got crooked/jammed inside the cylinder?

If that's the case, then possibly jiggling the motor as you lift "could" work.

Can you get to the tilt pin to remove it? This is the pin that secures the tilt ram to the engine.

If needed, you could just remove the engine.

Did you physically look real well to make sure something foreign isn't jammed in there?

How close to the ground is the skeg? Is it high enough to trailer with the engine down?

[DennisG01]

Oh... have you verified that it wasn't originally a manual tilt, converted to a power tilt (possibly still having a tilt lock mechanism)?

[99yam40]

There is a click when switch is pressed either up or down but that's it. I guessing that is the relay. Nothing else happens. No motor noise, no partial electric lifting of any kind. Battery starts boat just fine. Boat is out of water on a trailer. This is a pontoon boat that had been sitting on tires with motor raised (for a couple seasons I think) when I bought it. It was started but because it was on ground I never checked tilt or trim function. When boat was delivered motor was all up and lock bar engaged. Once I got my trailer under it I manually lifted the motor enough to and unlocked the bar to drop motor down. It came down like a non electric tilt model would. I had not touched the relief screw. Now I cant budge it more than several inches manually when it then becomes impossible to lift any higher. I tried loosening the vent screw but that made no difference. I don't know how better to explain what is not happening. You mention "release open" Is that the screw that is suppose to relieve pressure? If so, that doesen't make a difference. Or is there some other "release" I'm not engaging?

there is info on the bracket ( arrow counter clockwise) on which way to turn the screw.
I take it means turn cc to release so the motor can be mover up and down.
strange how you said it dropped with no resistance without touching the screw

[harddock]

Really trying to avoid removing the motor in my yard. I have about 3-6" clearence. One good dip or incline is gonna do some damage. Ive tried but am alone. Waiting on a marine mechanic but they're busy winterizing and storing this time of year. Can't add fluid with motor down.

[99yam40]

Oh... have you verified that it wasn't originally a manual tilt, converted to a power tilt (possibly still having a tilt lock mechanism)?

TLRX means it was a power T&T from the factory

[DennisG01]

TLRX means it was a power T&T from the factory

Thank you.