tilt friction adjustment (reverse lock)

[tanuki]

1975 Evinrude 9.9 (10554C)?..I have the 9/16 nut completely backed out as I am trying to adjust the tilt friction adjustment so as to reduce the pressure required to tilt the motor when an obstruction is hit. The ?tilt-run? lever works fine, it is just that I cannot get the motor pull at the propeller shaft to over-come reverse lock As I said before I have the nut completely backed out, motor in run position, and I cannot lift the motor up (100 to 200 lbs. as per service manual). Am I missing something? Any help is much appreciated.

 

[boobie]

Pull the tilt pin/thrust rod out and see if you can lift it. If you can something in the release linkage is broken.Go to shop.evinrude.com, look up your motor for any parts missing or broken.

 

[F_R]

Agreed. The tilt friction nut is just that...friction on the tilting (or ease of tilting, if you will), with the tilt lock released. That 100-200 pounds to overcome the tilt lock is a straight rearward pull at the prop shaft level. 200 pounds is a lot, but really not much when you are talking about hitting an obstruction. Best way to test is to hunker down behind the motor (on a boat, on a trailer, if at all possible), then grab the lower unit and give a mighty yank rearward. And I mean a mighty hard yank. The tilt lock should release with a loud bang, making you think you broke something. But nothing broke, it's just that bear trap springing. If it does that, it is working. There is no adjustment or anything to go wrong unless parts are broken or missing. BTW, you will never overcome the tilt lock manually unless the motor is securely mounted, like on a boat.

 

[tanuki]

Boobie?.when I pull the tilt pin/thrust rod out I can lift the motor up {in run and tilt mode) so I will check with the parts diagram for broken or missing parts as you specified. Thank you.
F_R?.What you mentioned makes a lot of sense to me now. Basically I was moving slowly (salt water bay, sandy bottom) this summer and I hit bottom in the sand and slowly moved on out to deeper water and I remember reading about the motor being able to ?pop up? when one hits something. As you said you must hit a log or something really hard to do that and grounding in sand while going slow was just my ?rookie? education with outboards.

Thank you guys for your expertise and have a healthy New Year

 

[boobie]

Now that we know more there is probably nothing wrong with it but check shop.evinrude anyway.

 

[gm280]

Actually the friction adjust isn't for the tilt function but for the steering force. You can reinstall the nut and adjust it so if you steer it and want it to stay at the steering position you set it at. That friction adjust will allow you to do that. The reverse lock out IS the only section dealing with the motor tilt. You should be able to lock the motor in two positions. One lock for the motor to stay put when in reverse and the other when the motor is locked totally tilted up. If you are running down the lake the better position for the tilt lock is to be UNLOCKED. Thereby allowing the motor to flip up if you do hit something in the water. And if you carefully throttle in reverse you can also do reverse without the motor tilting up in the same unlocked position... Just go slower in reverse and you'll be fine,,, JMHO!

 

[boobie]

I do believe he was talking about tilt only here. Not steering.

 

[F_R]

I had a boating accident in my youth because the motor didn't stay down when I put it in reverse. Reverse is the only "brakes" a boat has. That's why the owner's manuals say to lock it down. OK, now I'll confess, perhaps I was going a tad to fast (it was locked down, but the speed overcame it). Didn't hurt the bridge at all.