Evinrude Tilt Issues

[Gsinclair]

I have an old 40 Evinrude motor (I believe mid 90's) that doesn't have a motorized tilt option. To lift the motor up for transport you have to move a lever on the side of the motor, then manually lift the motor up and lock it in place. This season, I found that I cannot manually lift the motor up no matter what I do. My neighbor said he has a friend with the same motor and had the same problem. He said there is a cable that connects the side lever (the one you move to lift or lower the motor) that had to be disconnected, then you can pull on it to release the motor. I can't reach the cable, as the motor is in the down position - any ideas on what I should do?