2003 Johnson 50hp tiim/tilt air bleed dilemma.

[Stinkbate]

Hi boaters, This is my first post but I have been browsing the site for a while. Thanks for all the helpful archives that aided me to rebuild my leaking trim cylinder. So detailed were the posts that I never had to ask a single question till now.

My dilemma came from bleeding the air out of the cylinder with it tilted backward on it's mounts, the fluid would just spill back out. It's tilted because the transom is not flat, but undercuts at an angle under the boat. (I have a pic) Even with the tong on the ground, the angle to steep to retain the fluid. I noticed that there are two extra set of holes for the lower pivot bolt so I removed the trim assy. and mounted it on the outer most set of pivot holes. Now the cylinder is perfectly level and bleeding went without a hitch. But I was worried about leaving it that way and after the bleed, put it back to its original position.

My question is, what would it hurt to leave the trim assy in the other holes? Why are they there? It does not effect the trim angle as the engine pivots on it's own mount and the stops and tilt are unaffected. The extra holes only effect the ram shaft angle that meets the motor?

 

[RRitt]

Re: 2003 Johnson 50hp tiim/tilt air bleed dilemma.

your system has a generous reservoir. Topping it off at pictured incline won't cause any problems. However, it does have a tendency to hold trapped air. You can top it off and a week later the air has worked itself back into the reservoir. The system appears to have lost fluid but it's really just air bubbles that worked back to reservoir. Just run it up/down/up and top it off. Repeat after a few days and you are good to go.

 

[Stinkbate]

Re: 2003 Johnson 50hp tiim/tilt air bleed dilemma.

Ok, so your saying to continue to bleed it at a angle in the future. But what's with the other pivot holes? All advice and literature I've come across says to bleed it on the level. The additional mounting holes seem to be there for that purpose but no info is available or explanation for their purpose. I made a rig from some clear tubing attached to a funnel that I can watch the air bubbles come out and fluid go in without spilling. That should work at any angle I would think. I feel better with it bolted on the way it came new and has worked fine that way for 10 years till the shaft seals blew. I assume they are to mount different sizes of tilt motors on the same frame. But the air is out, fluid is in, tilt works like new, I'm going fishing now, thanks.

 

[RRitt]

Re: 2003 Johnson 50hp tiim/tilt air bleed dilemma.

the boat should be level. you can create a lower trim stop by putting a stainless steel rod through the holes.

when you repair the shaft seals it is easier to just go ahead and take freshwater system off freshwater boat. Put into vice, remove electric motor, open manual release, and loosen tilt cap. Take out of vice and dump fluid into bucket. put upper mounting eye back into vice, hold bucket under system, and pull out piston shaft (being careful not to score cyl walls. When assembling, fill cylinder up to threads with fluid. slowly install piston allowing tablespoon of fluid to be pushed back into reservoir. Tighten cap, tighten MRV and fill reservoir with fluid up to filler. Install trim motor with bonding strap on outside corner away from filler. tighten , check, wash. System is bled and ready for install.

 

[Stinkbate]

Re: 2003 Johnson 50hp tiim/tilt air bleed dilemma.

Thanks