1990 Evinrude 48SPL Tilt Assist Cylinder Stuck

[OldTinBoater]

From searching on this forum and others, it appears a stuck cylinder is a common occurrence and it's not repairable. Mine is stuck in the down position and I've since installed a Panther Marine powered Tilt which addresses the positioning problem.

My question is in regards to safety if an object is hit at speed. Is it safer to leave the stuck cylinder as it is, or to remove the pressure/oil via the glued lower setscrew (or drilling out)? If drained, it'll be able to flip up rather than possibly busting the transom or blowing up the stuck cylinder. Though, is it a bigger risk if hitting an object violently flips the outboard up and possibly towards passengers?

 

[Bosunsmate]

ive never had a kick up. I dont get how you can have an operating trim with a stuck cylinder at the moment

 

[racerone]

I think you would want to take that tilt assist cylinder out of there.-----You would not want to hit anything with it jammed.------But then perhaps call the Panther 1-800 number and ask those folks what impact protection is built into their aftermarket unit.

 

[OldTinBoater]

The Panther Model 55 powered tilt unit is mounted between the transom and outboard. That’s how it can be tilted even though the outboards tilt assist cylinder is stuck.

I don’t think I should remove the cylinder. If removed, there wouldn’t be anything providing good stops to support the outboard. I’d just drain the oil and relief any pressure that’s in the cylinder.

Panther instructions say that the outboard should be in tilt mode, so the outboard can flip up if it gets hit. The Panther unit uses a worm gear so I’d think it has pretty good holding strength. I think my transom or lower unit might crack before those gears break.