Mercruiser trim ram blues

[simon656]

Had some water ingress into trim fluid. So first step was to have someone replace hydraulic lines and drain replace fluid. Next the motor seized so pulled apart and cleaned. All good so I thought until I looked over the stern and saw fluid pissing out the rear line connection. So as I was pulling of the ram so I could tighten the line the ram shot out about 10 mm and now wont go back on. Have tried undoing lines but ram won't budge. Any ideas would be appreciated, cheers

[The Woo]

I'm kinda struggling to understand what you're saying.

Have you removed ONE ram to "tighten" a fitting, the ram extended a bit, and now you cannot get it back onto the cross pin at the back of the top gearbox?
If that is the case, you have a couple of options once you have all the lines done up tight.

Have the front of the rams bolted up.
Operate the trim either all the way "in" or all the way "up". Yes, the unloaded ram will travel faster and the situation will appear to get worse, but once both rams are at the end of their travel either way you will be able to slide the rear horizontal pin through the one you're having trouble with.

FYI - most isses with Mercruiser trim ram problems come from the scraper seals on the shaft (where the seals "scrape" the shaft as they go inside the ram body). Salt gets under the seal between the ram housing, and forces the seal into the shaft hard enough to seize it up. They push out alright, but don't go back down/in, because the pump pressure is mush less when trimming in.

[simon656]

Thanks woo, you got it spot on. Will give it a try and let you know.