How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

[bga4]

Hey guys, so my rams have had all the oil drained out of them and obviously are completely useless, so ive had plenty of experience bleeding cars/motorbikes but not quire sure if its the same procedure for boats??!!

obvoiusly you have to get all the air out, but how? do i manually lift the motor to squeeze/pump all teh air out? or can i somehow rely on the hydraulic pump to circulate the oil until all the air is out??

any help would be greatly appreciated, i could take it to a shop but id rather learn myself as im sure this wont be the last time i come across this issue

 

[Outsider]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

Raise and lower the motor until it doesn't skip or gurgle any longer ...

 

[Chris1956]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

The bleeding procedure depends on the year and HP of the motor. You might post it
Also, how many rams? one-two-three?

 

[bga4]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

Sorry for late reply. Ive been told on here that the motor is 1974 based on the serial number (hahaha yea vintage boating at its best), 150hp mercury inline 6, it has 2 rams.

So yea some basic instructions would be great, just not entirely sure how to do it, as with cars they obviously have nipples, but from what i can see the rams dont??!! either that or im just not looking hard enough

 

[jimg984]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

as OUTSIDER said above fill tank with fluid to propel level run unit up and down keeping tank at proper level,,, it will bleed its self,,,,,,some will say this won't work,,,,,,,try it and you will like it

 

[eclipseturbors]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

First understand the pressure that the pump is generating to the cylinders. I worked on heavy hydraulics for a few years and the pressure is a serious ordeal. Most likely, the previous advise was correct. Let the pump cycle the rams until they are moving and the pump sounds like it is working without hesitation. Be sure to use recommended fluid for the pump and cylinders. Do NOT crack lines to bleed air. Pressure can push the fluid past skin and into the blood stream if strong enough. The pump may have a bleeder on it. If not, the air will cycle out. Be patient and be sure that there is enough of the correct fluid. If possible, take your rams and even your pump to a local hydraulic place and have them check it all out. My Mercruiser Alpha 1 rams were rebuilt in less than an hour for half the cost of a used cylinder. Again, I have no idea which pump or rams you have... this is just basic hydraulic knowledge. Try to find Merc's proceedure, since they built it. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

bga4, The PTT pump is self bleeding. Fill the resevoir with 5W-30 motor oil (if existing oil is brown), or ATF (if existing oil is red). Pump will bleed itself when you bleed the rams.
Those trim rams have one grease fitting and two bleed screws each. Next to the grease fitting is a stainless steel slotted screw. Remove one of the screws, and run the PTT motor in the down direction. When only oil emerges (no air or air-oil mix), replace the screw and repeat with the other ram. Now remove the rams from the bracket and motor. Face the hydraulic line fittings up, and remove one of the other slotted bleed screws. The bleed screw is next ot the hydraulic fittings. Run the PTT motor in the up direction until all air or air-oil mix is out. Install screw and repeat with next ram. Refill PTT resevoir.

 

[bga4]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

wow what a response, thanks to all for prompt replies, all sound easy enough, no harm in trying anyway... hopefully. thats great though, will have a crack this weekend as this is the last hurdle before the fishing missions begin.

ill keep you posted on how i go

thanks again.

 

[bga4]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

hey all, finally got the boat to a point where it was time to bleed the tilt rams. Its been a while but I thought I should report back incase people read this and are still left wondering how it went, anyway as most people stated, it sure did bleed itself, basically just had to fill the resevoir then operate pump up and down until it came to life, while ensuring the resevoir never went empty,piece of cake.

You can imagine how stoked I was when it did, another pieze to the puzzle solved.

so with that in mind, must be fishing o'clock

 

[Chris1956]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

OK, now test to see if it has bled itself. Tilt the motor halfway up and let it sit. Now grab the gearcase and give it a yank. If it moves at all, it is not bled properly. The bleeding instructions I gave were out of the OEM Service Manual. I did not make them up.

 

[Laddies]

Re: How to bleed an outboards hydraulic tilting rams?

Actually there are bleed screws on all the early 2 ram sysems as you can see in the cyl. break down.