1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

[mstone1968]

Hello,
a friend of mine just bought a boat with the above motor on it and we can not find the Tilt release switch/button in order to tilt the motor up. The motor is in the down position right now but we can't find anything that will release the motor to tilt it up. There is one little lever on both sides of the motor on the transom that has a flat top, but moving it doesn't release the motor. The lever that we se will only move less than 1/2 inch either way. May not even be the right one, but that's all we can find. Would anyone be able to help. Thanks so much!

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: 1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

Try puting the front control in the forward gear, (do not dry shift into reverse). If that does not work, try taking the tilt pin out. There is a clamp that keeps the motor in the down position when in reverse or neutral. Sometimes the clamps rust and don't work properly, (that is when removing the pin helps). Hope this helps. JR

 

[mstone1968]

Re: 1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

JR. Thank You so much for the information. I will try that as soon as I get home this afternoon and will update the post. Thanks again.
Mike

 

[mstone1968]

Re: 1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

Hello JR,
Just got home and we done what you said - It worked perfect!! We put it in forward and the motor lifted right up with no problem at all. We would have never figured that out...We were looking for some kind of release button or lever didn't know it had to be in forward. Thanks so much for you help. Mike

 

[italianguyy41]

Re: 1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

hi i read a post that you helped someone with there problem relese pin tilt anyhow can u help me i have a 1973 850 merc i also have that problem i have to keep taking the tilt pin out to lift motor theres a clamp on it that i dont know how to relese or unlock ? is there a lever or something ? or do i put it in forward also ?please help ? also do u know where the impellers are located and how to change them? how about the fuel filter? i just bought this motor ..do u know what kind of gear lube i should use?

 

[Tomtina3]

Re: 1975 Mercury Merc 500 50HP Tilt Release?

The tilt release problem is very common on these Mercs. Its caused by the safety feature where the motor locks in the down position when the shift gear is in reverse. Thats all well and good, but if the alignment of the lower unit shift shaft splines is just slightly out of whack, you have to nudge the shift lever into forward gear to get the motor to let you tilt it up.

This usually happenes when someone drops the lower unit for some maintenance or repair, and when putting it back on, the shift shaft splines are just slightly out of alignment.

The proper way to fix it is, of course, to drop the lower unit, align the shaft properly, and put it all back together. Its often easier to just nudge the handle into forward before lifting the motor.