Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

As some of you know, I have an '84 85hp. I finally got to enjoy it this weekend, and have a few questions about the tilt trim.
First- the pin... Which hole? There are five holes, it was in the top one, but felt like it was cavitating a bit, so I moved it down one. At that time I realized that there is no way for the rod that I have to go into any of three lowest holes... What gives? And what's optimum position? It ran far better in the #2 hole, but will it get better?
Next, the trim itself- as a teenager and into my early 20s, my dad had an '82 Johnson115hp on our family boat. When running it, especially for skiing, we were taught to start with the trim all the way down, then once the boat planes out, start trimming it up until you an optimum rpm/top speed range. That boat would pick up about 4-6 mph, by where you had it trimmed. THIS boat doesn't seem to be that way. It really seems like it's an "up or down" system. There are two stages to the lift, but it doesn't seem to want to give me any fine adjustment. Is that just the way it is, or am I missing something? Is it related to the rod in my first question? Maybe it's already up too far? Can I drop it all the way down, then use it more the way I was taught? Should I?

Thanks a million, I really appreciate the help

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Can you post a pic of the T/T system and the rod you are referring to.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

If you have an 84 with tilt AND trim, then there should be no room to fit a 1/2 inch diameter trim rod through any of the transom clamp holes. Unless someone drilled another set of 1/2 inch holes farther out, there should only be four sets of 1/2 inch holes in the transom clamps for the trim bar setting.

IF you have a single cylinder that looks like a shock absorber, with a hydraulic hose running to a reverse clamp release, then that is a tilt only system. It will not adjust while running and there is no fine adjustment .

Typically, you put the trim bar in the set of holes that bring the anti-ventilation plate approximately even or parallel with the bottom of the hull.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Which one of these pics looks like your set-up? The left one is the OEM manual tilt that came with my boat and the one on the right is a Powered Tilt-N-Trim that I added.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Thanks guys. There may only four holes, I'll check this evening and get some pics. I thought I remembered five...
It does look more like the second picture here though with that cylinder mounted on the side.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

A2M2 said:

Thanks guys. There may only four holes, I'll check this evening and get some pics. I thought I remembered five...
It does look more like the second picture here though with that cylinder mounted on the side.

Click to expand...

The cylinder mounted on the side is the fluid reservoir for your Powered Tilt N Trim (TNT) System. To adjust the Tilt of the motor just either push the dash mounted switch either up or down. You don't need to have the key in the ignition since it should be wired so that as long as the battery cables for the boat are attached to the battery, it has power. With a powered system, you don't have to deal with the holes on your transom brackets. These were are used to tilt the motor when the optional powered TNT system was not installed. Does your powered TNT work?

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Ya, it all works fine. So... You're saying I don't need the rod at all? FWIW- the rod I'm referring to is bent into a long Z on one end and a hook welded to the other. Small hitch pin clip holds it in

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

A2M2 said:

Ya, it all works fine. So... You're saying I don't need the rod at all? FWIW- the rod I'm referring to is bent into a long Z on one end and a hook welded to the other. Small hitch pin clip holds it in

Click to expand...

As soon as you post a pic of your T/T system we can be more specific if you even need that rod or not. Make sure in the pics we see more than just the motor & pump assembly to include all cylinders/rams installed in the system.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Here ya go guys- thanks!
It was originally in the last hole. I lowered it to where it is now this past weekend. it won't go any lower. I had originally thought it was a trailering lock, but it turned out to be more like one of those brain teaser puzzles, and just made me feel stupid

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

i believe that is a trailering bar. flip it up and lower the motor onto it for towing and storage.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use



Like RRitt said: That is a trailering bar. You raise the engine fully, insert the two pins on the left side into two holes in the left transom clamp while putting the pin on the right side into the outer hole of the right transom clamp. Lower the engine onto the bar. You MUST use a cotter or clip in the small hole or vibration from trailering will cause the bar to work out and be lost. This bar takes the pressure off the tilt cylinder and keeps the engine from bouncing and lowering while trailering.

Here are a couple of photos. The one on the engine uses square tubing instead of bent stainless steel but it works the same.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

Ok, thanks guys, that answers that question. The bar eliminates the chunk of firewood I've been using, AND makes me feel like an idiot!

So do I completely remove it when running? It seemed to run pretty good when it was in that #2 hole, but won't go lower.

Re: Please help me understand my tilt/trim system while in use

You don't have to completely remove it unless you do not like the sound of bouncing metal while in the water. I remove mine and just keep it within reach when I need it for trailering. As for the T/T system. The tilt system only works when the engine is basically idling either in neutral or in gear and is usually used only when lowering the engine into the water (after launching) or when getting ready to recover the boat (in shallow harbors to avoid grounding) in ramps. The Tilt has a smaller ram and cylinder and is not capable of raising the motor when running above idle speed. On the otherhand, the trim cylinder has a larger ram and designed specifically for adjusting trim while the engine is running even at WOT speed. You adjust trim depending on water or sea states and loading of the boat.

Personally, to make ti easy to remember, I refer to the trim ram position when describing engine trimming. When the trim ram goes up for me it means I am trimming up the engine or when the trim ram goes in or down, for me it means I am trimming down the engine. When launching I always start with the engine in full trim up position allowing the boat to go on a plane quickly but also results in the bow going up and down or referred to as porpoising. From there I trim down until the bow is only slight porpoising which is the ideal or sweet spot (very subjective) and avoid plowing (bow down but more stable ride and slower max speed-inefficient). There are two advantages with this, with the engine pushing against the trim cylinder, it is much easier to take the trim cylinder down rather than going up. You can still go up as needed but it takes a little more time compare if you just have to go down. How much you trim down depends also on the boat loading. If you have a lot of load at the front, you might not need to trim down as much had it was empty at the front.