79 Johnson 140 Power Trim only goes up

**digitish** · 06-19-2016, 02:10 PM

Hi Guys,

When I finally got the boat in the water my power trim will only go up, not down. I checked the wiring & even put power to green wire directly from battery but no luck. Then I replaced the powerpack on the drivers side thinking it was a relay in there that went bad. Still no luck. I can hear the trim motor & it sounds the same going up and down and as it did last year but it will not go down. I put a lot of pressure on it thinking maybe it was stuck but no luck.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

**Nicolasticity** · 06-19-2016, 03:35 PM

Air

**EMDSAPMGR** · 06-19-2016, 11:34 PM

Make sure the oil reservoir is full. There is an emergency valve on the side of the trim which (once opened) will let the trim move up/down manually. You may want to do this once, just to be sure it's not stuck/frozen. That manual release valve is located on the starboard transom bracket. Stick a screwdriver thru the bracket to the screw on the side of the trim unit. Open it slightly-do not try to remove the valve/screw. Re-tighten when done.

**digitish** · 06-20-2016, 06:03 AM

Thanks so much. That worked. I opened the check valve a bit and moved the motor up and down a few times some air and oil came out. Now its working fine.

Is the Johnson oil anything special or will any power trim & steering oil work?

**EMDSAPMGR** · 06-20-2016, 03:29 PM

Bombardier sells their trim fluid as power trim and steering oil. One tube does both. The oil is a high pressure, non-foaming oil. red in color.

**flabum1017** · 06-20-2016, 04:36 PM

SAE 10 or 20 non-detergent works too..... never use ATF unless in a real pinch

**daytrader** · 06-22-2016, 11:02 AM

Just curious, whats wrong with using ATF?

**58Evinrude** · 06-22-2016, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by daytrader

Just curious, whats wrong with using ATF?

I'd like to know too. I use ATF in my units.

**EMDSAPMGR** · 06-22-2016, 02:07 PM

My 86 V4/V6 Crossflow factory Service Manual says that the only power trim allowed in the OMC trim units is: OMC power trim/tilt fluid OR GM Dextron II automatic trans fluid.

**flabum1017** · 06-22-2016, 04:21 PM

ATF foams up too much and will swell certain types of seals and o-rings......

**digitish** · 07-06-2016, 09:52 AM

Now the motor won't stay up. Moves both up and down as usual but will not stay up...very slowly falls down over 5-10 min.

I tried to make sure the oil was full & moved it up and down 4-5 times but still falls down on its own.