1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder???

1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder???

Requesting any assistance I can find on a fix that went terribly wrong today...

On one of the hydraulic cylinders for the T&T is a plastic plug/limiter switch(???) that screws into one of the hydraulic cylinders about halfway up, with what appears to be a ground wire attached to the opposite end of the plug that is not screwed in.

For some time this little plug has been leaking hydraulic fluid, so today a friend and I attempted to take it out and and fix it... When we unscrewed it (kinda hard since it's on the the side of the cylinder facing into the stern of the boat), it looked fine... as if over time it had just worked its way out. When we cleaned it, added some RTF silicone and started to screw it back in... with hardly any force, after about 3 turns, the entire plastic plug sheared in half!!!

So, my buddy and I were left with some type of plug or limiter switch with a tiny ball bearing in the center that was broken in half. We're guessing it's for the T&T guage or control switch on the dash, but we don't know... Heck, we don't even know what it's called!

So we're trying to figure out:
A.) What it is and what it's for?
B.) And if we can get a replacement part such as this - is this a standard type of plug/limiter switch used in other motors? Or do you have to find a complete replacement cylinder with the plug/switch already in it?
C.) Where the heck we go from here...?

I can't tell you how P'OD we were, since we were just talking about plastic breaking when it sheared in two... Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

I think that is the old tilt/trim position sender that you are describing. I don't recall the size or thread but a short stainless bolt with a fiber seal and some sealant should plug the hole.

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

It is the sender for the tilt/trim gauge on the dashboard. The ball bearing and spring ride on a reostat winding on the piston to sense the position. Part number 172574, listed as No Longer Available. Try www.seaway.com.

I kind of think it is a pipe thread. If that is correct, and you jam a bolt in there you will destroy the threads. A pipe plug would be more appropriate....IF it indeed is a pipe thread.

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

Thanks for the help... after looking at schematics from previous posts here (amazing site, really) I'd agree, it looks like a sending unit.

What we found after we got the rest of the plastic thread out from the cylinder was that it was indeed the threading on the metal cylinder that had just about gone (can't figure how the metal would go before the plastic, but anyway...)

So I'm guessing I now need to find a replacement sending unit (obsolete), a cylinder with a sending unit in it, or another type of sending unit that I can use as a workaround in its place (or is that even possible?)

Thanks again for the responses... very helpful and enlightening - even for someone as a thick as me...!!!!

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

Re: 1976 Evinrude 135 - TILT & TRIM limiter plug/switch halfway up hydraulic cylinder

It is a rather unique unit, and I don't think you are going to find a workable substitute. It really isn't a sender in the strict sense of the word. It is a connection between the external wire and the internal moving resistance wire. The ball is the contact point.

Can you live without the gauge? You might plug the sender hole with a pipe plug (or whatever the thread type). Use Locktite on the threads to seal it. If there are enough threads to hold it from blowing out, the Locktite should seal it.