1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

[bamnco]

I'm having some issues with the PTT on a recent purchase. Its a 1980 thundercraft with a 1980 115 hp mercury . It appears to have original power tilt and trim? For the most part down engages without any problem. Up motion is very slow. I'm new to outboards/boating in general. The motor for the PTT seems to wine/make noise in trim up / trim down but it doesn't sound like it engages every time. I am noticing what appears to be oil leaking from the hoses at the motor... Wiggled them a bit and got more of a flow / ooze out. Are these connections something that can be tightened ? Or do they need to be replace/re-ran? Also i'm not 100% on where to refil the oil ... I have a top view of the motor with two screws > one a philips and another flathead ? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[merc850]

Re: 1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

You can tighten the hose connections with a wrench (a line wrench is best) be careful 'cause stainless steel is soft, I would drain the oil by undoing the bleed screws and pumping it dry then replace the oil by filling it into the slot screw hole, clean it first (the Phillips screw is the vent). Use the recommended oil on sticker.

 

[bamnco]

Re: 1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

Thanks much , I'm wondering if my wiggling damaged it at all ... Also the protective coating around the hose appears to be peeling off. These seem to be expensive hoses @_@ . If they do need to be replaced i'm looking at 30-45$ each ? Or is there a better after market solution for these motors? I'm going to drain / replace the oil for sure , the oil leaking out had a milky / color tint ... did not look like normal oil/ or even ATF.

 

[zippy83]

Re: 1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

If its whining when you try to trim it up the. You are missing some hydraulic fluid. I have the same exact set up with a 50hp and it was douing the same thing. Then I replaced the oil on it and its been working like a charm. I used transmission fluid.

 

[bamnco]

Re: 1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

I was able to get the hose tightened pretty easily .I ended up draining it today , I'm sure i did it incorrectly but ended up working out in the end... I took out the vent screw .. then undid the bleed screws on both sides i got a pretty slow flow. I then ( here is my mistake i'm sure) dropped the safety latch and slowly lowered it myself ... got a nice spurt of oil out and then of course couldn't lift the engine back in to place I was able to manually pump it up and down a little to get a bit more oil out. It must have been running on fumes , it was ... 1/10 of a qt of oil maybe? I ended up pumping a full qt in until the vent hold started overflowing , then was able to get the fill screw back in. Gave it just a little bit of help up and it pulled up like a champ. I up/downed it probably 10 x and took out the fill screw again but appeared to be still full.

 

[zippy83]

Re: 1980 mercury power tilt and trim issues / new to boating

Ok. There is a knob on the bottom of the hydraulic pump. You should have turned it clockwise to disengage that will allow you to manually lift the outboard. That is in case you lose your battery or the hydraulic motor goes bad. Make sure it is tight and turned anti-clockwise when you get ready to test...