GOOD NEWS. . . . The PICTURE UPLOAD FUNCTION IS WORKING !!! The tech folks at the parent company have been able to remedy the issue. You can upload pictures once again. Thank you for your patience.
I don't know the setup that you have on the motor, but I had one before doing the same thing. Mine had a resevoir (spelling?) tank that held the fluid then it went thru some hoses to the trim tabs. There was no fluid leaking, but there was an internal leak inside of the resevoir tank. Had a bad "O" ring in it. Had a shop do the work (so I don't know how tough of a job it was) and that's what they said it was, just an internal O- ring so the fluid just ran back into the resevoir.
Make sure there is enuff oil in this thing.----It does have a tank / reservoir !!----If the manual release screw is tight now and it comes down then install a o-ring kit.
My 2000 Johnson 50 did the same thing. Low on fluid. You have to run it up and down many times and on every "up" cycle, open the filler cap and add fluid. It took about 7 or 8 times running up and down on mine before it would take no more fluid. Now it works perfectly.
