Mercury 1150 Stuck in UP position

[jakec]

Hi everyone. First post here. I have this 1977 1150 which I bought last week. I was going about getting everything hooked up and had the power trim working correctly. One of the hose connections was leaking at the pump end, and it still needed a bit of bleeding, but it was working. I am using the single solenoid pump model on the left in the photo.

I took it to the lake to switch the boat to a new trailer. And I trimmed it all the way up, then lifted it a little more by hand and turn on the swivel lock that holds it in the UP position, for trailering it home. Then we drove it home without any issues. Undid the swivel lock and now it will not trim down. The pump makes normal sounds but no movement. And then I released the pressure knob, and it still would move when I pushed down on it. So it is stuck in the UP position now.

 

[Alumarine]

Welcome.
You might have to crack the hydraulic lines to get it down.
The Reverse Lock Control knob only allows you to tilt the motor up, it will not help with getting it down.

 

[merc850]

You might have to bleed the down side of the system

 

[Chris1956]

You are sure the manual tilt locks ( dog ears) are not jamming the trim bracket? The were connected when new, but usually rust out and separate.

If that is not it, run the trim up a bit and then switch to down immediately.

 

[jakec]

You are sure the manual tilt locks ( dog ears) are not jamming the trim bracket? The were connected when new, but usually rust out and separate.

If that is not it, run the trim up a bit and then switch to down immediately.

Yes, the dog ears are moving freely. And the engine is already at the maximum UP position, and using the UP switch makes the strained "end of range of motion" sound.

The hydraulic hose that is leaking is one of the large ones. I will crack it a bit to see if I can thread it in for a better seal ,but I want to avoid losing all my new fluid. Someone also told me that they had the same problem once and it was due to low fluid, which I could see being possible, given I did not fully bleed the system and it is leaking.

 

[Chris1956]

Be very careful loosening or tightening those hydraulic hoses. The trim cylinders are inclined to strip out. You will have a hard time fixing that, if it happens. You will probably need to look for a used replacement.

The PTT fluid is either dextron auto trans fluid which is clear red, or 5W-30 motor oil which is clear brown. Use whatever is already in there. They are both cheap.

In this case, loosen one of the "up" hoses at the trim pump control valve, and see if she will trim down. The up hose is likely one of the smaller hoses.

 

[merc850]

The fluid is 5w-30.

 

[jakec]

I had read about the pistons stripping out so I was very careful there installing the hoses. They are good. I ended up disconnecting all hoses last night because I needed to investigate the leak anyways. After removing the hoses it went down.

The pump appeared to be leaking from more than one spot, but hard to tell. There were small metal shavings in the threads of the larger hose which I could tell was leaking. All my hoses are new or new-ish. I have another pump (same but 2 solenoid model) that I am gona try out since it does not appear to leak and it's just sitting there.

I had a friend tell me to use ATF, what should I use? First time I used power trim fluid which was super expensive about $25/qt.

 

[merc850]

The fluid is 5w-30 motor oil - it says on the pump.

 

[jakec]

I filled the pump with 5w-30 engine oil. I also was a little more careful screwing in hoses this time and cleaned the threads on the pump beforehand. So far no leaks. I noticed that the filer screw burps when you unscrew it. It never did that on the other pump so I guess the air must have been getting through the leaking areas.

BTW, is it necessary to put the tilt lock on when you open the filler screw or will the engine still stay up? I've been doing the tilt lock every time.

 

[Chris1956]

Tilt lock is not necessary when filling the PTT reservoir. It is self-bleeding.

There is a vent screw just above the fill. You might open it a bit.