tilt/trim question on an 89' force 125

[pfloyd86]

Hello all,
I have came to all of you before with questions and everyone has helped greatly thanks for the past help. I have a new issue and its with my tilt and trim. I can not trim up properly. Trying to diagnose the issue I trimmed the motor up while stationary in the water when it was not under a load of pressure, and then tried to accelerate. When I did this the motor pulled down. I aslo put some damage on my new prop when I trimmed up the motor and gave it a little acceleration to put the boat on the trailer when my buddy didnt back it in far enough and my motor pulled down and my prop hit. I dont know enough about hydraulics to know how to fix this problem. I kind of know how to bleed the lines but I dont know what position to do this in so its done properly or if that will even work. But I am really annoyed that I can not get proper speed out of the boat because of this. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Brian

 

[roadrunnr]

Re: tilt/trim question on an 89' force 125

Hey Brian,
You probably need to replace the o-rings in your tilt/trim. I had the same problem with the tilt on my 89' Force 85. Found and purchased a rebuild kit off of ebay. When it came I realized it probably came from R Ritt who responds frequently on this site. As the baot was already in storage when I acquired the o-ring kit, I just got around to it this week. Don't freak out about it being hydraulics as the rebuild is just simple mechanics. The worst part is getting 20+ year old fasteners loose. I used PB Blaster and generously sprayed every bolt and nut that had to come loose. I only did the tilt rams as the trim cylinder is holding fine. The instructions provided with the kit were complete and easy to follow. If you rebuild the tilt rams you will definitley need a face spanner wrench mentioned in the instructions. Even with that I had to remove the rams, clamp them in a vise and use a breaker bar to loosen the top caps. Wasn't sure I was going to be successful until I managed to loosen the first cap. After I had everything reassembled I ran the T&T several times before reattaching to the outboard making sure to top off the pump frequently. Don't know if this was the proper proceedure, but everything seems to to function perfectly and the tilt rams now hold the outboard in place. Good luck, maybe Ritt will respond to your post.

 

[RRitt]

Re: tilt/trim question on an 89' force 125

the system is self bleeding. if it is low on fluid it doesn't bleed down. It just doesn't go up as high because it runs out of fluid before it reaches the top.

It is possible that you have a power tilt system. Look for a short fat cylinder with a five sided cover (bottom middle). That is trim. If you don't have that cylinder then your engine is behaving properly.

If you do have the five sided cylinder then it is either valve body or a piston oring. The valve body is a tricky repair that is generally not DIY friendly. 125HP is a fairly big engine. You'll be better off to get your existing VB rebuilt since it has stronger aluminum. You can also find new ones on the internet for $130-$220. The new ones aren't going to be as good as your original. The rams rebuild is fairly easy if your boat is freshwater. If saltwater boat then a ram rebuild can turn into a 24-32 labor hour nightmare.

 

[pfloyd86]

Re: tilt/trim question on an 89' force 125

Thanks for the info. Changing the piston oring sounds like a much cheaper and easier thing to eliminate first. where do I purchase the piston Oring? Thanks, and if I want to have my valve body rebuilt do you RRitt do that it seems like Ive seem other posts saying that you rebuilt their VB. Thanks for the info. Brian

 

[RRitt]

Re: tilt/trim question on an 89' force 125

many of the parts are still available from mercury. the trim cover bolts should be replaced, especially on a 125HP. they are 1.75" long socket head bolts. Kind of hard to find but a good supply house or well stocked bolt aisle should have them. Look for SS316 first and SS318 second. Don't bother with regular steel G5 or G8 stuff. the make or break seal for dealer is the shaft wiper on tilt and shock rams. Chrysler Force Mercury never sold that part separately. that is the little round plastic piece in very center of tall top cap. If yours is showing any signs or hardening, aging, or cracking then hit ebay and buy a kit with the seal included.