Hydraulic tilt trim fluid

[skelz]

I have a small leak on one of my tilt trim Hydraulic lines which has leaked the fluid to such a level that my pump engages but motor doesnt move. seems to go up but not down. its an old system Marinier 1983ish. not sure how to refill system. noticed allen key bolts on rams. any help would be great

[rajawolf]

Hi skelz,
Do you have #the hydraulic motor and unit in the boat,? if so u will have #a control knob at bottom of this unit..on the right hand side midway up u will find a screw which is a fill screw then above that a little to the left you will have a second screw which is a vent screw.

Tilt motor full up and remove the fill screw add fluid till it comes just to the bottom of the thread tighten screw.. then lower motor again, #hope i explained this so you can understand.. if not just let us know and i will try again. :P

[skelz]

I do have a motor and there is a engage dis enage Knob on the front I imagine this is the one your talking about I will check this afternoon and let u know

[dnej]

If this is a rectangular box type reservoir, the knob is to allow you to lift the motor manually, but only one way. The filler is a screw on top of the reservoir, you need a mirror to see it correctly.
Hope this helps. I do have a manual if you get stuck
David

[rajawolf]

The manual says to use a brand name SAE 10w-30 or 10w-40 automotive oil...i would say that is automatic or power steering fluid to us in Australia...NOT motor oil...

cheers,
Tony

[dnej]

Hey Tony,
Do you think we could find out more from somewhere, as I assumed it was motor oil,according to the nominal numbers the book gives.
David

[rajawolf]

Hi dnej,

i just checked and drained mine a few minutes ago ..its very thin and very red like wine, damn now i dont know it does not smell like engine oil.....i also smelled some power steering fluid i have here and it smells different again...i will make some inquiries and get back to u.

[familyman]

The only red fluid that i know of is power steering fluid which stands to reason given the hydraulic ram function of both sysems but as to the grade i got no idea ??? :-/

[rajawolf]

made some inquiries and it is auto trans and power steering fluid.

this snipet was from the shell site, and got the same from other inquires.

Shell Nautilus Trim/Tilt/Steer Fluid

A premium grade synthetic-fortified fluid for marine hydraulic control systems. It is fully compatible with ATF-II and Dexron III. Its high viscosity index assures smooth operation.

[Bundaberg_Bandit]

I just topped up mine not so long ago,

its an early 90's 40hp Mariner.

I'll describe mine as it may be similar.

Towards the bottom of the pump housing is a larger filler plug which you need to get ATF Dexron 3 into (mine is a red colour like you mentioned).

Release the hydralics and lift the motor as far as it will go (support it just in case), undo the plug, fill er up, refit the plug, tighten the release screw again, then cycle the motor the full range several times up and down. #This last bit is to get rid of any air from the system which in mine is self bleeding.

Hope this helps

cheers Bundy bandit

[borisdog]

If bleeding and filling your systen doesn't help then maybe your tilt relay is faulty. I had a bit of a problem with this on 1998 Merc 60's. They'd go one way but not the other, down or up - didn't matter. Turned out to be the relay.