Power tilt slowly lets motor down

[Fish Head]

I have a 100hp mercury on my 17 ft. Sea Ray. I noticed the motor will slowly lower itself from the up position when on the trailer. Takes several hours.<br />I cant find any hydraulic oil leaking from the unit. What would cause this to occur,could it just be low on oil? Just bought the boat hope its nothing major. The PT/T works fine otherwise

 

[Trent]

Re: Power tilt slowly lets motor down

Make sure the bleed screw is tite. And check the fluid level also.. My bet its leaking internally by the seals and its time for new ones.

 

[tugboat]

Re: Power tilt slowly lets motor down

Fish- I agree it's most likely the inner seals which are rubber o-rings that can degrade over time. The defect on the ring may not even be visible, so I would suggest simply replacing irregardless of how they look and see if that doesn't solve the problem. I had the same thing happen on my outdrive and replaced the o-rings myself (fairly easy job but be prepared to have oil on the floor, so put down papers). Problem solved. Take care, Tug

 

[Gold Bear]

Re: Power tilt slowly lets motor down

Actually it is not necessarly an easy job. You will find that your trim cylinders have a TEFLON seal versus an "o-ring" seal and you must have a special tool to install the teflon seal without stretching it. <br /><br />I have a 115 merc that has acting the same as yours for a long time. When under way the "problem" is not noticable, so I have left mine alone.<br /><br />Unless you can't live with it, I recommend leaving it alone or having a dealer (who has the correct tool) rebuild them for you. If memory serves me the rebuild kits are about $35 per cylinder. <br /><br />Good Luck, Gold Bear