93 mercruiser trim pump question

ok so i have never had a boat before and i bought a 93 cobia Monte Carlo 178 el from my cousin. it has a mercruiser 3.0 alpha one I/O. after i replaced the starter she fired up and runs great. my problem is that i cant get the tilt/trim to lower. it is stuck in the full up position. when i hit the switch it moves like an eighth of an inch and then stops. even with my step dad standing on it it wont budge. also the pump is really noisy so i was thinking it may be out of fluid. my problem is that i can not find the reservoir. i have tried the search function and found the thread with the picture that matches what is in the manual but my boat doesnt have a reservoir like that. the only thing on the bottom of the pump is what looks like a oil filter off of my 83 ford truck! there is a large bolt just above where the "filter" meets the pump so i tried removing that thinking that it may be a fill point but when i took it out it has a spring underneath it. i am totally at a lose and am yielding to the great wisdom of others! lol sorry for the long first post! thanks in advance for any help.

Re: 93 mercruiser trim pump question

Welcome to the forum

Low fluid will usually make the pump run fast and at higher pitch.

Follow the trim tubes to make sure your looking at the trim pump. The reservoir needs to be at beneath or near the trim pump.

You should get the maintenance manual to help point things out.

Good luck

Re: 93 mercruiser trim pump question

im pretty sure what im looking at is the trim pump. it is to the right of the motor mounted vertically on a bracket. i will trace the lines and make sure there isnt a reservoir somewhere else. ive got the operation and maintenance manual that came with the boat. is there a different manual i should have?

Re: 93 mercruiser trim pump question

so i asked a buddy at work who has a boat kinda like mine and he said it sounded like the rams were frozen in place from being up for so long. so i sprayed some pb blaster around where the ram enters the cylinder and then stood on it while my step dad hit the switch. it dropped and now it works fine!! now the only problem is that it wont trim up with the trim switch. i have to use the trailer switch to get it to go up. from what i have read that means that the switch is shot right?