Tilt question on 88 mercury 100

[TurboRambler]

I have a 88 Sea Ray (Mercury) 100 HP with trim and tilt.

I can tilt the motor up and down but only the first part of travel or the slow tilt mode. Once it trys to hit that second part where it would normally tilt up high and fast it just runs the pump and does not go any farther. I can hear like a high pitched whine while it trys to raise it up high. I dont think it is any type of electrical issue and the battery is fully charged.

I see there is only one piston on this setup.

Any ideas on this one?

I checked the fluid and it was fine in the pump.

Thanks for any help! :smiletest:

[oceantraveler]

TurboRambler It sounds like the trim pump is cavatating. what kind of sound do you get when you try and trim it all the way up ?Does the pump sound like it is staying at the same speed our does it whine and sound like its accelerating .? It could be very low on fluid.Try and get some help Raise the motor by hand you can use the trim up switch and pull up the motor by hand then lock it with the arm.Ck your fluid with motor up.Remove cap slowly if needed fill just to the hole replace cap then cycle it a few times and ck again.post back and let us know whats going on and we can help fix it if its not out of fluid.look around the Trim ram and see if there leaking any fluid,ck all hoses aswell. good luck with her!

[oceantraveler]

Sorry didnt see that you cked the fluid already.BTH did you ck it all the way in the up postion.??? If so were chasing the wrong problem?let us know..

[TurboRambler]

Sorry didnt see that you cked the fluid already.BTH did you ck it all the way in the up postion.??? If so were chasing the wrong problem?let us know..

Thanks! for the help and here is where I am at now:

I checked it with the motor about half way up and not resting on the hydraulic rods that support the engine. I lifted it with my front end loader very very carfully.:eek: Basically I thought i needed to take the load off to open the cap to check it. I toped it off but it was not low at all.
It trys to go into that quick raise mode for a split second then just stalls and changes tone. The slow mode does fine. I could post a video of it maybe if that helps to diagnose it with good audio??

Do I need to do something special to raise it all the way up? I put the lever in forward thinking it might have some lock mechanism but I dont think it does. I was thinking when you are running and hit a log the motor will pop up so you would think I could lift it higher but did not want to break anything.

[TurboRambler]

Here is a video I made of the problem. You will see the setup I have then I try to trim it all the way up and you can see and hear what it is doing. Thanks for helping!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD4_GNRqG8c
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[jacklake2003]

It definantly sounds like something is binding to me. Try lifting up on the lower unit while someone else is pressing the tilt up button.

[TurboRambler]

It definantly sounds like something is binding to me. Try lifting up on the lower unit while someone else is pressing the tilt up button.


I should be able to lift the motor up right? Even if the tilt part is not working. I lifted it with a loader (can normally lift 1600 lbs) but did not want to break anything but I think it was lifting the boat up. Is there any locking mechanism? I will go look in a bit and see if anything seems to be binding up. Now that you say that it does seem like it is getting under a load in a hurry. I just thought it was getting weak and could not lift the motor to the higher position.

[oceantraveler]

Turbo silly question.Are the batterys fully charged ? and looking at the motor grease the tilt tube and all fiitings .try some penatrating oil aswell it sure does sound like its binding up! Has this thing been sitting for a while? i will post back the scematics for this in a lil while hang in there its a peice of cake with this system!:cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[oceantraveler]

YES with help.
I should be able to lift the motor up right? Even if the tilt part is not working.

[TurboRambler]

Turbo silly question.Are the batterys fully charged ? and looking at the motor grease the tilt tube and all fiitings .try some penatrating oil aswell it sure does sound like its binding up! Has this thing been sitting for a while? i will post back the scematics for this in a lil while hang in there its a peice of cake with this system!:cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:


I know it is silly but just wanted to make sure before I use a little more force. The boat has sat 6 months and I bought it last summer. I looked at the fitting where you would grease that tube and it has never been used if I had to guess. I think I will have to take the hydraulic steering arm off to get to it. I put some penetrating lube on the tube ends to let it soak.
Seems kinda wierd that it locked up like that.

[David Borg]

it is very common problem with salt water motors especially if they were not greased before storage. The tilt tube rusts and will not let the engine tilt up freely as it should .

Dont know if yours is a salt water engine but if it was never greased before it would lead to the same situation.
Its very frustrating to get it freed up .

In some cases I had to take the engine to a machine shop to bore out the tilt tube and put in a new one .

I would also try and remove the top pin that connects the trim pump to the engine and try lifting the engine manually. that way you will verify if the problem is the trim pump or the tilt tube.

Good luck

[oceantraveler]

This i were i was going with this exactly! Keep us posted with your efforts turborambler. Ahh its nice to see our freinds from Malta are members of Scream and FLY ! Last time i was in Malta i was aboard The Cable ship Oceanic Viking! nice place.........
it is very common problem with salt water motors especially if they were not greased before storage. The tilt tube rusts and will not let the engine tilt up freely as it should .

Dont know if yours is a salt water engine but if it was never greased before it would lead to the same situation.
Its very frustrating to get it freed up .

In some cases I had to take the engine to a machine shop to bore out the tilt tube and put in a new one .

I would also try and remove the top pin that connects the trim pump to the engine and try lifting the engine manually. that way you will verify if the problem is the trim pump or the tilt tube.

Good luck

[TurboRambler]

Ok I got it working. I had to use a little more force to break the tube free so the motor would tilt freely. :)

How close is the inner tube to the outer casing? In other words can I drill a hole in the outer shell and tap it for a zirc(sp)/grease fitting that is easy to reach? If this is not a good idea I can loosen the hydraulic steering assembly and drop that down to get to the fittings that is there now.

I have only been in brackish water twice with the boat. It normally is used in fresh water.

Thanks for everyones help on this!