1977 Johnson 85hp trim tilt pump rebuild

[canuckmark]

I have the dreaded Calco pump on the trim and tilt system and am having issues. The system will not hold its position (set the tilt up and it drifts down slowly on its own). I did all the seals in the rams as one was leaking a bit at the top but the problem exists. The motor had some issues but that has been resolved, so the only part I have yet to work on is the pump.

I have read a lot on here and most people say to replace the pump with a stringer pump (after waterproofing), but even finding those in decent shape has been challenging where I live. So attempting a repair on the pump appears to be the last resort.

I did some more research and came across a "head gasket repair kit" P/N 172886 for a reasonable price (under 50 bucks). Does anyone have any experience with this kit? Are special tools needed? Would this potentially solve the drift-down problem? I am experienced and patient enough to do this type of work, but if it isn't possible to DIY I will not get it.

Also, the problem sometimes is intermittent AKA sometimes it will drift down faster than other times. Does this sound like something this head gasket kit will fix? The manual release screw is frozen tight in the block - will that need to come out to do the fix?

(RRitt I hope you see this thread

Thanks guys!
Mark

 

[canuckmark]

No one has done this??

 

[crestlinermusky]

Hello Mark

I have a 1975 Evinrude 115 that had the same tilt/trim system with all the same symptoms. What I did was to find
a power trim unit off of a newer motor (mine is off a 1985 140 HP).installed the system, just bolted on, and now I have
power trim on my motor.
I found the unit on Kijiji for $ 175.00

Mark

 

[canuckmark]

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. Trouble is I've had a hard time finding many decent parts up my way in the used market, that's why I'm looking at this rebuild as an option. The part is on order so we'll see how it goes when it gets here...