Re: Reverse lock valve leak ?
I have the reverse lock valve on my 72 Mercruiser, probably the same one as on your 78 I'm guessing... It was leaking a bit before I replaced the old Prestolite trim pump with an new(er) Oildyne, bypassing the reverse lock valve. I still needed to have the reverse lock valve installed because the shift cables anchor to the reverse lock valve, but it's no longer in the hydraulic circuit. I just filled it with engine oil and capped off the hose fittings, no more leaks.
I used a new style trim hose manifold (under the gimble housing) so all the hose connections are the same size, the bigger new style fittings. I'm not sure what the exact size is, but if you are going to use your old hoses on the Oildyne pump, you'll likely need to put reducer fittings on the pump, to match up to the old trim lines. I have the old "Rube Golberg" hydraulic trim indicator and had to put adapters on it to fit the bigger new style trim hoses, similar to what you'll need to do adapting the small old style hoses to the large fitting Oildyne pump.
Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to remove the brass flare fittings from the pump (to replace them with smaller fittings) as the fittings are a special design, maybe having check balls behind the fittings. Been a couple years since I tore down the Oildyne pump to clean it and I can't exactly remember how the fittings were, but I seem to remember that the in-out fittings couldn't be swapped to smaller fittings, only reduced with an adapter.
So
- New Oildyne pump with adapter fittings to the old hoses
- or Oildyne pump, new style hoses and new style manifold (new style manifold will work with trim ram hoses)
Oh yeah, are your trim hoses (pump to manifold) delaminating or falling apart, mine were and in sad shape. I replaced them with new hoses.
