Tilt Tube Removal - Engine Impossibe To Raise Or Lower

[bobgritz]

My outboard is almost impossible to pivot (up or down) and the tilt tube needs to be removed and cleaned or replaced.

There is no major rust on the exterior of the tube. The outboard steers fine and the steering cable moves freely through the center of the tube.

Does the outboard need to be removed from the boat or can the tube be replaced with the engine attached to the transom?

 

[bobgritz]

I need a mechanics advice

I need a mechanics advice

Should I unscrew the tilt tube or do I hammer it out to change it.

I'm tempted to put a large pipe wrench on the exposed threaded area but want to hear from someone who's done this before.

It's a 1987 40HP Mariner.

 

[bobgritz]

Expert Mechanic Needed

Expert Mechanic Needed

Should I unscrew the tilt tube or do I hammer it out to change it.

I'm tempted to put a large pipe wrench on the exposed threaded area but want to hear from someone who's done this before.

It's a 1987 40HP Mariner (posted in Johnson section because nobody in Mercury section has responded)

 

[bobgritz]

How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Should I unscrew the tilt tube or do I hammer it out to change it.

I'm tempted to put a large pipe wrench on the exposed threaded area but want to hear from someone who's done this before.

It's a 1987 40HP Mariner.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

On old corroded motors like that, you will spend time with a torch heating up the transom brackets to swell the area where the tube goes through. Then you have to hammer the tube out, clean out the salt buildup and install a new tube with bushings. In severe cases the parts don't come apart so you may want to find a used midsection somewhere.

Fabricate a piece of metal to fit inside the tube and around it so when you are hammering it, the tube end will not flare out.

 

[durban]

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

you can try all kinds of methods sugested by members on the sit , i knowoooo . & have tried every thing as ive changed heaps before especially when they are rusted in not easy to get out . the only way cut it out by useing 0.8 mm cutting disc cut between the yoke & bracket , then put new bushes & shims paint the center with good marine piant .

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

They are a PITA to remove and if it's been in salt water even worse

I changed one a few years back on a Johnson and ended up cutting the tube inside with a sawsall.

Why are you taking it off? It does not look bad except the corrosion. I usually recommend people use a metal 12 gauge brush on a cleaning rod with a drill to clean it out. Then wrap the brush with steel wool and oil and polish it a bit. Those tubes are normally stainless steel.

 

[emoney]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Just went through this. IF you can hammer it out, hammer it out. You're better off "starting over".

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Grrrrrrrrrrr Okay I merged your 4 threads all on the same subject but now the story gets a bit more clear.

Do not remove that tube. You need to free up the hinge points....... a different repair.

Heat and PB Buster. You have an accumulation of old grease in the hinge point. between the heat and the PB buster (or your favorite penetrating oil/solvent) work on one side at a time to get some pentrant into the area around the tube ends and spray/heat/spray/heat keep alternating. NOT TOO much heat since there are plastic bushings inside there.

A good quality grease gun and grease it until you get grease coming out at the hinge points ....alternate that with the other process.

Do NOT hammer on the tube or any part of it until it comes to the last resort.

Still a PITA but it works. Removing the tube should be your absolute last resort.

 

[bobgritz]

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

Re: Expert Mechanic Needed

Thanks to all of you.

I totally agree that a non-removal repair needed to be tried first but ...

When it was on the transom of the boat I put a propane torch to it (and about 5 different penetrating oils) but I suspect there is a plastic bushing in there and it eventually melted. The motor was almost impossible to pivot (up and down) prior to using the torch but actually got more difficult to move as more and more heat was applied. It is almost unmovable now. The boat is about to passed down to my friend's 13 year old and there is no way he could manage raising or lowering the motor.

The idea of cutting out the entire mid-section (of the tilt-tube) between the opposing brackets makes sense. If cut, the hammering force needed should theoretically only be 1X but in its present 'uncut' state, the hammering force is probably not simply 2X but more likely 3X+ due to multiple opposing forces. The center of the tube is clean and not an issue.

From everyone's posts can I assume that there is some sort of plastic-like bushing in there? If there is (and if I cut out the mid-section first) I would think that torching the pivot-point should make the bushing somewhat molten and pressing (or hammering) out the tube should be somewhat easier?

 

[durban]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

when you get it out i replaced mine with 22.2mm od diameter carbon graphite machine threads on end , problem solved for life

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

you will not melt the plastic away...... it is captive and somewhat safe but I still would not go wild with the heat.

I used a 2 x 6 as a lever in the mount and worked it back and forth. The key is to do it in multiple positions to free all areas of the tube.

 

[emoney]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

If you're hammering, you'll need another pipe, smaller in diameter by a smidge, to "finish the job" don't forget. I see the logic in cutting it in the middle I guess, but if it's mainly stuck on one side, wouldn't you lose leverage that way? Just throwing out questions.

 

[wolfmmiii]

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Re: How Do I Remove The 'Tilt Tube'

Grrrrrrrrrrr Okay I merged your 4 threads all on the same subject but now the story gets a bit more clear.

...... You have an accumulation of old grease in the hinge point. between the heat and the PB buster (or your favorite penetrating oil/solvent) work on one side at a time to get some pentrant into the area around the tube ends and spray/heat/spray/heat keep alternating. NOT TOO much heat since there are plastic bushings inside there.

A good quality grease gun and grease it until you get grease coming out at the hinge points ....alternate that with the other process.

A very old thread, I know... But I just wanted to post in case someone like me comes across this in a Google search, just as I did, while troubleshooting a motor that won't lift manually if the trim motor fails.

This was exactly my problem. As a matter of fact, I'm near certain at this point that the seizing of the hinge points is what caused my trim motor to burn up.

I was able to get PB Blaster into the hinge points and eventually, and slowly, work the motor up and down to free it up. Trim motor is on its way.

 

[stresspoint]

the most dreaded job on an outboard IMO , any outboard with a rusted or corroded tilt tube is going to be a night mare even to the best of us..

my story is in regards to a DT 200 Suzuki , the tilt tube was obviously rusted , they have a what was originally a galvanized steel tube (yea i know ? what were the engineers thinking).
i started with heat on both sides and quenching with some old truck engine oil figured that should get it to at least move a bit , nope.

hammer hammer bash bash , swear at it , hit it some more.

after exhausting all options got the drill out with a big assed drill , smoked the $60 drill bit as i hardened the steel when i quenched it .

after hours trying to get the thing out for the guy buying the trim assembly i gave up .
he ended up with a complete mid section "" with a jammed tilt tube""
no idea how the guy got it out or ever did.