1978 115hp Johnson Tilt Problems

[DENNISJ]

I could use al little technical help. I have a 115hp Johnson with tilt problems. It is 1978 model which will only tilt up but not down. I have just replaced the battery, solenoid in the black box and the electric motor that drives the pump for other reasons. I can lower the motor using the manual release only. I have had the pump out and apart but found nothing noticably wrong inside. Can anyone pinpoint where to look for the problem?
P.S. The reservoir has plenty of oil when the motor is up. Also, when I go to power the motor down it draws the electric motor down like the hydraulic system is pressured up.

 

[wavrider]

Re: 1978 115hp Johnson Tilt Problems

I had the same problem with the exact same engine, TWICE.

I had to bled the air out of the system , get a friend to push down on the engine while you are lowering, it will only go down to the trim rods.

I did this a few times up and down, then removed the fill cap and let the air out of system, fill again and repeat cycle, then when motor is in the up position, i refilled the fluid level, lowerd motor with friends assistance as far down as it would go and let it sit all night, the next afternoon i checked it and t&t worked fine.

I now store my engine in the FULLY DOWN position including the trim all the way down, never had this problem again.

 

[DENNISJ]

Re: 1978 115hp Johnson Tilt Problems

Thank you for you reply. I have had this happen twice also. After messing around with it the first time it started working again. I did not realize however, until read you reply, this was being caused by storing it in the up position. Once I get it working again I will start storing in the down position. When I got home last night I must have raised and lowered the motor 20 times. I checked the oil in the up position and down. I ran it with the reservoir plug in and out. I ran the pump in the bypass mode thinking it might work some of the air out of the system. It still won't power down.

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1978 115hp Johnson Tilt Problems

Is the electrical system including the trim motor now working properly?

 

[DENNISJ]

Re: 1978 115hp Johnson Tilt Problems

The electrical system is working great. I have a brand new deep cycle battery a new soleniod and a new tilt motor. The tilt motor developed a short so I replaced it along with the solenoid. The battery was Three years old and weak so I replaced it also. (All less than two weeks old)