Hydralic tilt not working

Just bought a 71 sea ray with a 125 Johnson.(my guess is 71-72ish). The hydralic tilt is not working. The little motor on the starboard side of the lower unit looks a bit suspicious in that the top seems distorted and out of shape. Anyone with experience and knowledge concerning the most likely problem/weakness of this system please ....lets hear from you. Is this a dependable year and size of motor? Anything to watch out for other than routine maintenance? I am a auto repair technician so don't be afraid to be technical THANKS!!

Re: Hydralic tilt not working

First of all give your model and serial number and I or someone else can give you the year.<br /><br />It sounds like corrosion has damaged the motor..But check this.<br /><br />Remove the cowling (motor cover) and look for the two small solinoid switches that control the trim motor. You either have a two wire motor or a three I cant remember. Anyway the solinoid that has the blue wire is the UP solinoid and the one with the green wire is DOWN(green grass DOWN...Blue sky UP). Jump across the switches and see if the motor will run. You can also ohm out the motor wires to see if the motor is good. If water has gotten into it, its most likley bad (common problem). You can buy a aftermarket motor from ARCO (Pensacola,Fla).<br /><br />You need to change the gear oil in the lower unit every year (check for water) and replace the impeller in the lower every two or three years. Easy job really.

Re: Hydralic tilt not working

Thanks for the information. Another question...where is the serial# and model# located? I understand that the last 2 digits tells you the year. Do you know of any place I could get a decent factory service manual? Not the generic type....my experience with these has been frustrating at best. This is my first real boat and this bulletin board is a real help. Thanks to all!

Re: Hydralic tilt not working

Look on the transmom bracket for the serial number plate. If it is not their somtimes they stamp them on parts of the powerhead (freeze plugs and such).