40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

The lever that allows the motor to tilt just flops back & forth & I can't get the motor up
This is a manual tilt assy . Ther Seems to be a hydraulic piston between the motor plate & the transom that I guess aids the engine lifting. Any info available on repairing this?

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

The cylinder is there as a tilt assist. It is common for it to loose it's gas pressure over the years and become useless. I've been told that eventually it will seize making it impossible to tilt the motor at all. My assist has not been working for years but nothing has seized yet. My motor is a 1995 - 40HP Johnson. I can't help re your lever but you can go hear and get a good look at the parts breakdown which may help. Best of luck. Rick.
http://epc.brp.com/SiteMods/BRP_Pub...ang=E&s1=cdb5bbaf-a4d3-4d78-b140-a8e2e2efa43f

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

Unfortunately, they all break.
Also unfortunately they cost $575

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

I've recently been looking at a trim/tilt built by CMC. When my unit seizes up I think that will be the direction I go. Rick.

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

I'm wondering if the cylinder can just be taken off and drilled in various places until it unlocks? It still wouldn't work, of course, but at least it wouldn't be totally frozen......

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

Good idea Whaler, but what keeps it from kicking up in reverse if you do this ?? They say not to mess with this cyl as it can be dangerous.

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

boobie said:

Good idea Whaler, but what keeps it from kicking up in reverse if you do this ?? They say not to mess with this cyl as it can be dangerous.

Click to expand...

Nothing would keep it from kicking up in reverse except a bit of friction.
I'm kind of strange as I have always run my twins "unlocked" since I started out boating in skinny water. I don't use reverse much at all, and don't goose it when I do. I'm kind of used to the boat's oddities since I've had it for a few years (38 and counting...)
Yes, on reflection is is probably unwise to drill into a potentially charged gas cylinder. Might get a face full of fluid and shrapnel

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

I had a '90 40 hp Johnson (very low hours) that had the same tilt assist cylinder failure. Since I usually fish electric motor only lakes I didn’t want to spend the money for a replacement unit or the CMC jack plate. The CMC is the way to go if you are going to invest in your motor. What I did was purchase a large “I-Bolt” slightly smaller in diameter as the upper cross pin that goes through the tilt assist assembly (looks like 7/16” x 12” long). I drilled a hole in the threaded end (for a lock pin) and replaced the factory pin assembly with the I-bolt. I removed the plastic bushings on both sides as I didn’t want the threads to eat the bushing. When I needed to tilt the motor up for loading and transport I pulled out the lock pin and I-bolt and tilted the motor with no assist. For transport I put an aluminum bar under the bracket to keep the motor tilted up (I didn’t want to put all the strain on the flip cam that can hold the motor tilted up). I transported the motor with the tilt assembly stabilized with a shock cord. Since my motor was also locked in the down position my plan was to put the I-bolt back in if I was going to use the 40 to power the boat as the cylinder still had some give if I hit something although I knew it would be risky to the lower unit and transom if I hit a really solid object. Before I tried the I-bolt under power I sold the motor to someone who lost their ’91 40 hp Johnson lower unit but could swap their tilt assist to my motor. I can’t claim this is safe for operation but it was handy for transport tilting.

Just added, I cut a block of 2" x 6" of wood approx. 9.5" in length and used it to hold the motor in a slightly tilted position that aligned the upper holes of the tilt assembly to the upper piston hole. I simply tilted the motor up with one hand and placed the piece of wood lengthwise between the lower unit and the stern of the boat, approx. a 45 degee angle. This freed my hands to position the tilt assembly so I could pass the I-bolt through the bracket and piston eye. I then removed the board and kept it in the back of my boat. A little trial and error to get the correct length but once I got it it was easy to position the tilt assembly to line up for the I-bolt. No tools were needed to insert the I-bolt.



Good luck.

FYI - I used part of the proceeds from the sale of my 40 to purchase a mint '78 35 hp Evinrude that has no tilt assembly to go bad!!!!

Don

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

thanks for the replies, the piston is not the issue @ this moment, the issue is that it will not release out of locked down position, which makes dragging this pontoon boat onto & off the beach each year a real project. I have had to remove the transom plate bolts so the motor rides up the transom wall as I pul the boat on shore which is doing wonderful things to my prop.
your right, 500+ is not something i want to kick out as this boat will be going up for sale soon but Ihave to get it operational befroe this.I need ot clearly identify the year & model 1st because I cant find the right one on the parts breakdown
what is the best way to get the pivot to release? is it simply go between the plate & motor w/a sawzall? don't want to cut the wrong thing.

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

stang32 said:

thanks for the replies, the piston is not the issue @ this moment, the issue is that it will not release out of locked down position, which makes dragging this pontoon boat onto & off the beach each year a real project. I have had to remove the transom plate bolts so the motor rides up the transom wall as I pul the boat on shore which is doing wonderful things to my prop.
your right, 500+ is not something i want to kick out as this boat will be going up for sale soon but Ihave to get it operational befroe this.I need ot clearly identify the year & model 1st because I cant find the right one on the parts breakdown
what is the best way to get the pivot to release? is it simply go between the plate & motor w/a sawzall? don't want to cut the wrong thing.

Click to expand...

To get it 'released', you need to remove the bottom pin-bolt going through the brackets and unit. #17
http://www.marineengine.com/parts/j...aust+Housing+&+Stern+&+Swivel+Bracket

Re: 40 hp Johnson tilt mechanism broken mid 90's mtr

Ok well my apologies . The engine is a 48hp model J48eslete