89 Mercruiser 3.0 Hydraulic Trim Hose fix?

[toneybrown]

Ok, back for some more sage advise from this great community.

After fixing my previous problems with overheating, we had the boat out for a week on the lake with no major issues. Until I got home and saw an oily mess in the bilge.

My first thought on this was it was from the powersteering. When I first got the boat it was out of powersteering fluid. I filled it up, but seemed to have disappeared. I had the wife come out and turn the wheel back and forth for about 5 minutes with the engine running and I could not find a single leak anywhere from the powersteering. I checked all the hoses, and inspected the oil cooler closely. Nothing under the cooler or hoses was oily, so maybe it was just bone dry and I never fully filled it up the first time?

So, I kept inspecting and check my hydraulic pump and noticed the fluid level was low. When I inspected the hoses I found one with a spot where it looks like it melted! Strangely this hose is far from the engine and I have no idea what could have done it. I cleaned the melted spot up, moved the trim up and down a few times and rechecked the spot and sure enough a little hydraulic fluid was leaking out.

Now, the hose seems to go up under the engine and it does not look accessible without pulling the outdrive or the engine I would assume. I would like to avoid this if at all possible. So, is it possible to just fix the current hose? After some googling I have found a few issues like mine where a repair has been successful. I have attached pics to show you what I am dealing with.

Thanks for the help

 

[Bt Doctur]

you remove the bolts and pull the connector block down and replace the hyd hose

 

[alldodge]

Fasten a wire or heavy string to the old hose, so it can be used to pull the new one back thru

 

[toneybrown]

Ok, let me make sure I'm seeing the diagram correct. The hoses from the pump connect to the removeable plate on the bottom side of the Gimbal housing. I remove the 2 bolts there and it slides down and I just disconnect the pump hose from there and swap it out? That seems way easier then the scenario running through my head.

Will I need to do anything special as far as bleeding anything off?

 

[alldodge]

Your correct, and it will self bleed just raising and lowering a few times. Make sure the reservoir doesn't go low

The manifold will not drop down very far so space is tight. Suggest having a line wrench to remove the line from the manifold. Also called flare nut wrench

 

[toneybrown]

Your correct, and it will self bleed just raising and lowering a few times. Make sure the reservoir doesn't go low

The manifold will not drop down very far so space is tight. Suggest having a line wrench to remove the line from the manifold. Also called flare nut wrench

Ok, one last thing. Do you know which hose connects to the front and back of the gimbal housing plate. I would like to just remove the correct one. Space is tight so I might have to disconnect both anyway but want to try just removing the correct one. I am needing the location of the Grey hose. Is it front or back?

 

[alldodge]

Not right off hand but is easy to figure out. The hose that goes to the rear of the cylinder raises it, the other lowers it. My guess also witout looking, is the rear is lower and the other is raise

 

[GA_Boater]

The grey hose is burnt and leaking. The black hose is OK.

Wanna guess? LOL

 

[toneybrown]

The grey hose is burnt and leaking. The black hose is OK.

Wanna guess? LOL

That is exactly what I am dealing with. No clue how the grey hose melted as it isn't near anything hot that I can tell in the spot it is melted. I'm assuming you have had this issue before also? What causes this?

I unhooked both lines to give me more room to work and move the manifold out of the way. The Grey hose was connected at the front of the manifold. Got it pulled out of the top and have a strong wire connected to one end to pull the new one back though. I'm assuming it will be much easier to feed the new hose up from the outside of the boat, then pull the wire up until I can grab hold of the new hose. Is this the correct procedure to get the new one installed?

 

[alldodge]

I'm assuming it will be much easier to feed the new hose up from the outside of the boat, then pull the wire up until I can grab hold of the new hose. Is this the correct procedure to get the new one installed?

No, the line goes from the inside down and out (doesn't come out very far). This is why I mentioned to put a wire or heavy string on the hose when removed

 

[GA_Boater]

Never had a situation like this so no idea how or why the hose is burnt. Not knowing the extent of the overheating problem, it could be the possible cause if the hose was against a hot part.

I just used common sense that it's the grey hose because that's what your picture shows.

 

[toneybrown]

Never had a situation like this so no idea how or why the hose is burnt. Not knowing the extent of the overheating problem, it could be the possible cause if the hose was against a hot part.

I just used common sense that it's the grey hose because that's what your picture shows.

Ah, the strange thing is the melted spot is actually pointing away from the engine. It is very strange.

 

[toneybrown]

No, the line goes from the inside down and out (doesn't come out very far). This is why I mentioned to put a wire or heavy string on the hose when removed

Ok, it seemed like after I had pulled the grey one out a little ways the black one would come out pretty far. I also figued that the 90° angle of the bottom end would be hard to pull through from the top and the straighter top end would be able to be pushed through for the bottom.

I had to order one, so when it comes in I'll report back with my findings on re-installation.

Thanks for all the advice and help this far.

I also have a sticking shifter kill switch issue going on, but that is for another day and another thread!

 

[toneybrown]

Just a final update. New hose arrived today, and after coaching baseball most of the day I went out this evening after getting home and installed the new hose.

First, I left the wire I connected to the old hose when I pulled it out very long. I tied the new hose onto the long wire and pushed it through from the bottom. I had to jiggle it around and move the other hose a little, but once I got it through the transom I was able to push it all the way up into place. Worked pretty easily really.

Now, when I removed the old hose I swear it was connected to the front of the manifold and the black hose was on the back side. I reinstalled it this way, filled the reservoir and hit the up trim button...........

The outdrive went down, lol. Hit the down button and it went up! So, for future reference I guess the white hose should have been at the back and the black hose at the front! Who knew, lol.

Anyway, I just swapped the hoses at the pump connection instead of tearing everything back apart and now up is up and down is down.

Thanks again for all the help!