Trim/Tilt flush and refill?

General Boats and Motors
1

Hello All,

1995 Johnson 88 spl

Got lucky July 4th weekend. The boat ran and worked fine all the way up to tying up to the dock. The trim/tilt would not raise the motor, so while I ran the ‘up’ button, my brother lifted the motor until we could get it on the chocks. The trim/tilt motor runs. It was apparently low on fluid.

Then, going to take it from the dock to Wappoo Cut landing the other evening, with just enough time to get there, I had to figure some way to get the motor back in the water. The only immediately available fluid was some 2-cycle motor oil. So, in it went with a syringe. The good news is that the trim/tilt immediately worked. The bad news is, now I have a trim/tilt system full of 2-cycle oil.

What is the best way to drain the trim/tilt hydraulics so I can do a little flush and refill?

There may be a follow on post about how to rebuild a trim/tilt setup. At this point, I’m hoping that after 14 years of use, it just needed some fluid. But, obviously, in order for the fluid to go somewhere it had to get past a seal. I’ll have to figure out which seal and how quickly.

17’ Henry O Hornet
26’ Palmer Scott

2

my tilt/trim leaked out through loose fill screw. replaced o-ring tightened it and no more problems.

hightide 1602sc
90hp merc

alumnicraft 14’
25hp merc

3

I wish I thought it could be that easy. I don’t think my fill screw has been off since the motor was new. It was certainly not loose. 'Took a little work to get the thing to let go.

Thanks for the thought, though.

17’ Henry O Hornet
26’ Palmer Scott