200hp Hydrolic Lift /Trim Problem

[yankee.fan]

Hello everyone! I've read many topics in your forum, but never participated, guess that was a good thing.
I've read posts here that state a number of reasons that a Yamaha motor lift/trim system may not be working. On my 1989, 200hp Yamaha, I can hear the lift motor running in the up and down position, but the outboard is "stuck" in the up position I can't remove the engine cover because it is up against the stern, and the boat is in the water docked along side my live-a-board boat, so it's always in the water.
Is there anything I can do to lower the motor or fix this problem? I haven't been able to start the engine for weeks, and you know how those Yamaha carbs are, I just had all three rebuilt.
Thanks in advance for any help!

[jb123]

on the midsection of your motor there is a reg slot screw to release the pressure of the tilt/trim fluid and motor will drop....unless its seized on the tilt tube,whereas you will need to lube the grease fittins up front and the angle ones on the lower sides of the tilt bracket. unless unless....your tilt stays are down [img]smile.gif[/img] )

[yankee.fan]

Thanks for your reply, jb123.
When you say the screw is halfway down, do you mean the motor end or the drive shaft lower unit end? I'm at my boat now; I'll go outside to look for the screw.
By my description of the problem, do youi have an idea of what the problem might be?

[Ken]

yamkee.fan,
The bypass valve for the trim/tilt assy is accessable thru a small round hole on the port side of the motor bracket. On my C115, it is about halfway between the two mounting bolts.
There is a slotted screw head that you will see looking in the hole. You can turn the screw ccw all the way out until it stops. Don't force it. Also do not have any part of your body underneath the motor. It is best to do this when the motor is all the way down. In your case, it would be nice if you could drop the locking lever in place and get the boat onto shore before unscrewing the bypass valve. Once the screw is turned ccw, the motor will drop under its own weight - be careful. It should drop fairly quickly. You can now grab the lower unit and pick up the motor manually, assuming your back is in shape.
Since you hear the trim/tilt motor running and the outboard is stationary, then your problem is probably in the pump itself. It will have to be torn down and repaired. Best to let a qualified mechanic do this - if you want to try it yourself, get a Yamaha factory manual.
Good luck,
Ken K

[yankee.fan]

Thanks for your reply Ken. . .
I'm off work today, so I'm going to give your suggestions a try.

[Ken]

yankee.fan,
When you back out on that bypass screw, turn it SLOWLY, and the motor should drop slowly. Then you can lock in position by quickly turning it cw until it seats.
Remember, when you come out of the water with the motor down, you will probably have to stop your rig on the ramp and manually raise the motor and drop the locking lever. Otherwise, you may drag the skeg on the ground, and you DO NOT want to do that. (I'm sure you probably already know this - but I had to tell you anyway).
Good luck,
Ken K

[jb123]

when you run the tilt/trim up and down do the pistons move or does it make an effort to lower the motor at all and bind? if so then your seized in the up position,keeping it in islamodara in salt can have that effect.

[yankee.fan]

Hello again Ken and jb123

Well, I finally had time to try your suggestions.

If you can believe it, my brother was able to reach over the motor while it was still in the water to check the fluid level, and it was alright. The level was just below the bolt hole. Of course, I had already purchased the Yamy fluid, just in case.

Next, we located the "release" screw and turned it CCW, that lowered the unit just as you said it would. Once down, for the hellofit, I tried the trim button again. At first, the motor "****ed" a few times then it finally moved up and down smoothly, and it's been working ok for about a week now.

My best guest is that there was some air trapped in the resiviour (sp). When we removed the fill bolt, air and mist blew out quite a bit for a second or two.

My other thought is that I may have left it in the up position too long, over a month, and it kinda got stuck in that position.

Don't know exactly, but both of your help made it possible. THANKS A MILLION!

By the way, I did purchase a Clymer shop manual through Amazon.com for future reference.

[Ken]

yankee.fan,
Congratulations - you got lucky! You might want to drain all of the old fluid and maybe that would flush out the debris that was possibly causing the problem - I've never torn down the trim/tilt pump before, but I believe there are one or two check valves in there that could get stuck from lack of use or debris. I don't think it was air trapped in the system. I've never done it, but there should be a drain plug at the bottom of the reservoir for draining the fluid. Also, there is a routine in the shop manual (Yamaha) that allows you to purge the system of air.
This all goes back to the old saying of run your outboard at least once every two weeks. I guess the same goes for the trim/tilt. I would also keep a thin fim of marine grease (I use Mobil 1 synthetic) on the hydraulic rams.
Good luck,
Ken K