1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

[mklinger]

Hey guys. Have my 50hp Force running good. The motor has always come down slowly when tilted up. Was never too bad, but now its getting worse. Deff have to use the pin thingy to make sure it is held up once on the trailer. (OEM transom saver or whatever its called) I can live with a little leakdown, but I'm concerned that when the boat is under power that it may be coming up a little. is this possible? seems a little harder than usual to get on plane but it could be because of my new trolling motor and batteries I added. could there be air in the system causing this or do I need to get a new tilt/trim valve or something?
Can someone walk me through how to bleed this out and fill with the proper fluid? or am I just pissing in the wind here and I need to have a pro look at it? I'm handy enough but never messed with a tilt/trim before.
not sure if I want to throw much money at it since I am considering getting a larger motor in the near future. I like my Spectrum Blue Fin 1706 but this 50 horse is barely enough power for me and my fishing gear.
thanks for the help.

Mike

 

[mklinger]

Re: 1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

Did some more research on this. looks like I need a new valve body or have mine rebuilt. I read in an old post about a cheaper valve body for around $90 on ebay that works on smaller motors like mine, but I cant seem to find one this cheap. anyone know where to find these?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

Find a guy named RRitt and send him a message.
He rebuilds them.
Does it drift all the way down?
Contact him and give him all the particulars.
I believe it's under $90 for a rebuild.
The chinese crap is crap.

 

[mklinger]

Re: 1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

Thanks Jerry. Yes, the motor will come all the way down on its own. think this could effect my performance when driving? like is the motor coming up? I can pull it up some by hand without too much pressure. will have it fixed soon anyways.
I found RRitt yesterday after searching a bunch of old threads. Quite the helpful guy. He actually told me the Chinese one should work fine for me since my motor is only 50hp, but he wouldnt use it on a larger motor. I'm getting the chinese one from him so hopefully it goes well. I would have mine rebuilt but I fish 2 or 3 times a week and dont want to wait if I dont have to. maybe I should keep my original unit instead of turning it in for a core so I could have it rebuilt in the future if needed.
If work continues to go well, I will hopefully be able to buy a brand new motor in a year or two. (I need more power) just not sure what brand or outboard to get think max on my spectrum 1706 is 85.

 

[dthiessen]

Re: 1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

I had the same problem with my 85 hp. I just took my trim pump and hydraulic cylinder in to my local hydraulic shop to have them rebuild them with new seals. Had it done for under $300.00 but if I started with just my hydraulic cylinder, it would have only been $150.00. They said during testing that it was only my cylinder that was leaking.

 

[RRitt]

Re: 1989 FORCE 50hp tilt/trim leakdown. what to do?

50HP is small enough that I think the asian valve bodies will be okay. I'm pulling a number out of my but .. but, i think you should get 3-5 years on a 50HP. Maybe even 7? Nah. I doubt 7. I don't think the rubber would last seven years just sitting in a garage - much less on an actual boat. You can find asian valve bodies for $80-$90 on amazon, ebay, google, etc. Any VB under $200 is the same regardless of who sells it or what they say. The only difference is the shipping and the profit.

I don't know if I'd put an asian on 85HP though. 85HP and up has enough weight and back pressure to create pressure over 900psi. The rubber is crummy and the metal is softer than original. I don't like doing the same job over and over every 2-3 years. I don't think the asian stuff would hold up. I think ebasic power out of NC sells the API valve body for $230. The genuine API can handle larger horsepower. You can also find rebuilds on ebay for under $100 if you have a week or two to wait.