Question on manual trim unit......

[vsokolofsky]

I just purchased a pontoon with a 1992 50HP Johnson 2 stroke with oil injection. Motor works great but having problems raising and lowering the motor. It is a manual tilt with what I believe is a small hydraulic assist cylinder. It has a lever on the side of the motor which you flip to manually lift or lower the engine. At first we had problems lowering the motor but after lubing the cable to the cylinder, and fiddling with the lever, eventually it lowered. Then we had similar problems lifting the motor but again after more spray lube and more messing with the lever we got it up. Assuming we just needed to keep lubing and working it to make it work better, we lowered it again. But......since then we haven't been able to raise it again. Anybody had similar problems or have any suggestions? I also was wondering if there is any kind of retrofit to put full power trim on this unit. Sure would like to get her in the water this weekend but have to resolve this issue first......Thanks

 

[MinUph]

I tried installing a retrofit T&T years ago. It was a bad experience, Didn't work right and was very hard to install. Might have been the unit but I'd never attempt that again. Second only to replacing stringers in a 26 foot cabin cruiser.

 

[vsokolofsky]

Good to know. Any advice on what may be the problem raising the engine? I can see that when I flip the lever the cable only moves about a 1/4 inch. Could that be the problem? The cable appears to be in pretty good shape otherwise.

 

[1983 ercoa 21']

CMC makes a add on TNT you just unbolt your motor and install the unit to your transom then mount your motor to the. TNT unit .

is your controls are in reverse or is out of adjustment the motor won't lift.
this is to keep the motor from climbing out of the water while in reverse. Again it activated by shifting into reverse.

 

[Cat nip]

I had the same issues with my tilt assist unit. You can try to adjust the cable at the lever by popping it off the ball and giving the socket a couple turns. I ended up installing a used power tilt trim unit that came off the same year engines and is a direct replacement for the manual one and it costed $600 with all the wiring and switches and relays. Well worth the $ and makes the motor more valuable and desirable. I got mine from Tim outboards in Hackensack mn. Very nice and knowledgeable people to deal with and they can tell you step by step how to install everything and exactly where every wire goes for an original fit. And there 100% tested.

 

[lmuss53]

Depending on the position you place the lever in it serves three different purposes, one to allow for tilting the motor up, one for lowering it but not locking it, and a third that locks the motor down to prevent reverse blowout eroca mentioned. The down but unlocked is for running in shallow water like rivers. I don't think any OMC motor in that HP range has a reverse lockout linked to the gear shifter. I could be wrong but I've seen and worked on a lot of them and I've never seen it.

With the boat on the trailer move the lever to the different positions and try to lift the motor. Once you figure out what happens in each position write it down so you have it. I can't tell you exactly what happens where because I haven't moved mine in years.

Just as an FYI I have a 1976, 55 HP Johnny that is basically the same motor as yours even though it is 15 years older, I leave it down in the locked position all the time. I have never had an issue of any kind towing, launching, retrieving, running, you name it on my 20 foot boat. I would actually have to drag a pontoon before the motor would hit the ground.

I'm not saying your's would be OK in the down position all the time, just that it works out mine is, and maybe you should look at your's.

As to aftermarket TT, the CMC units are the way to go, there is one for sale on pennswoods.org classifieds right now.