HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

[charlie7538]

ok, so i just got this boat (and yes i am a brand new boat owner , took my boat class, but i need some help...) a celebrity 180cx bowrider with no manual and it has a yamaha out drive that has v6 4.3 written on it. i made sure the batteries are charged and figured out how to start the engine. now i have to figure out how to lower the outdrive , so i press the rocker button on the throttle lever but it clicks in the back with nothing happening...is it some how locked in a trailer position?? what does manual mean on teh fluid container?? does somebody have a manual they want to sell?? i found a button on the top of the outdrive that turns , but i dont know what it does. can somebody please help

 

[roscoe]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

THe hydrolic tilt system uses tilt and trim fluid(automatic transmission fluid will work).<br /><br />Does your boat have a "trailer" button somewhere, maybe on the dash?<br /><br />It must have fluid in it to work.<br />Clicking is your relays trying to start the trim pump.<br />Pump may be low on fluid, or may be broken.<br /><br />I think the seller of the boat should have gone over the operations of the boat, AND taken you for a nice long test drive to prove that everything works.<br /><br />Hopefully someone else will have a more detailed answer for you.

 

[cuzner]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Hey Charlie,welcome to the forum.Start with the obvious and work your way down. You may have 2 sets of rockers 1 for your tilt and another for your trim.You may also have a trailer switch wich helps prevent you from accidentaly rising your outdrive to high.You may be using trailer switch,if motor is all the way up it won't do anything but click. If you have a trailer switch your tilt will only adjust up very little.Play with them and see what happens.If this does'nt do the trick check the resevoir for tilt pump,and make sure it has fluid (atf).If it is low don"t fill to top!! If you do when you lower outdrive (cylinders are full when up) you will have oil all over the place.If this does'nt work you may have a selenoid shot in pump.If this is the case and you want to repair it yourself,post question here I'm sure someone that knows a lot more than me can walk you through it.<br /><br /> good luck<br /> Jim

 

[ffboarder]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

This may be obvious, but did you remove any trailering guards on your outdrive hydrolics? Just a thought.<br />Erik

 

[charlie7538]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

hey first off, thanks for the help. now back to the boat. first, i was going to check the fluid , but realized i didnt know how. second , i looked everywhere for a trailer switch, and all i can tell you is that the little rocker switch clicks down and up but has a second position when pressed harder up. of course all it does is keep clicking at what i believe is the hydraulic pump. i dont know what a trailering guard is, and i bought the boat through a broker i found locally so i never met the owner. does any body know where you can find a manual? i called the broker and tried to describe the guages to him to ask what they met and he sounded like he didnt have a clue but offerred to let me bring it over to seee if he could figure this all out. oh, and just to be sure it asn't a low battery , i bought a charger and fullt charged both batteries. can you also tell me the difference between tilt and trim? when the guy from the boat brokerage took us out last fall, it appeard to work ok and i dont remember him saying anything about tilt and trim or trailering switch. i'm going to try to reach THAT guy this week because at least he appeared to know something about this boat.<br />any help you folks can give is really appreciated, just remember i really new at this and have only been through our states safety classes. <br />thanks again..

 

[jmattor]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Yamaha out drive....where's the captain when you need him?<br /><br />After you checked the obvious (^see above^)<br /><br />Check; Fully charged battery? Pumps need alot of juice. Assuming this is probably a '91 - '93 model? Check all the breakers and connections (especially ground).<br /> <br />The little "button that turns" on the port side of the out drive is the switch you turn to raise and lower the out drive. Clockwise = down.<br />It comes in handy when the boat is on the trailer.<br /> Very often the toggle button on the throttle will fail due to corrosion, etc. It has 3 toggle positions - one click down to lower, and two clicks up - click once up for trim up, then the next click up is for the trailer position. Make sure the throttle is in neutral. <br />Do you hear a noise (hum) when you use either the toggle switch or the switch on the outdrive? If not then check the power to the switches and hydraulic pump. If you have power at the switches, then it's the pump. I had to switch to an aftermarket model on my old boat. If you do hear it pumping, check to make sure you have enough fluid.<br /> A leak would ultimately cause your outdrive to lower, so you probably have a problem getting power to the pump or a bad pump.<br /> For future reference, if your fluid reservoir goes empty or very low, you may have a leak someplace - probably one or more of the OEM rubber hydraulic hoses to the lift cylinders. They get a workout when the outdrive is raised and lowered alot. Although they look very much like the Mercury or Sierra replacements, those won't work. I welded new SS hoses to the metric Yamaha fittings and they work great.<br />Good luck. The Yammie will work well if you take care of it.

 

[jmattor]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Manual = repairmanual.com

 

[charlie7538]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

thank you , thank you<br />ok no now to double check a few things, batteries fully charged, do i need to turn the key to get the instruments to come on? (I will check to see if power is getting to the pump before i start)throttle in neutral, click toggle switch down and hold it down becuase this should release it from the trailering position? if i hear a click then what does that mean? if i hear a hum then there is power but the pump is broken? or the toggle switch? so just to be sure, try turning the outdrive port rotary switch. oh, how do i tell if there is enough fluid there is no dipstick or level mark that i can see. and what exactly does the "manual" position do on the pump?<br />thanks again for your patience and help

 

[cuzner]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Hey Charlie,pretty frustrating eh.My first post might have been a little confusing,sorry.Tilt and trim are basicly the same thing.Tilt is used lift up or down in a hurry, trim does the same thing slower,and is used to fine tune sterndrive while on a plane. The resevoir should be a small plastic tank attatched to tilt pump. It should have a screw top on it.To check just open top and look inside.Fluid may be clear (hydrualic fluid) or red (atf).With sterndrive up,tank should be about half full. Are you only getting a clicking noise when you use switch, or can you hear the pump trying to work? If its only making a cliking noise something is not right.You may want to take it to a marine shop and have a mechanic look at it before you try repairing anything. I don't know anything about trailer guard, but I'm sure you would see it if you had it.You can order a seloc repair manual from there web site, but I don't think it tells you how to use tilt trim, only how to diagnose and fix problems.P.S. never start your engine without water flow to impeller. Your impeller is in your sterndrive and pumps water up to engine.If run it dry it will fry it in no time.You can buy a flushing atatchment you connect to a garden hose for about 5$ at wallmart if you want to run motor when out of water.<br /><br /> Hope you get it going!!<br /> Jim

 

[ffboarder]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Since there were a couple questions regarding my response about the trailer guards, I am sure I am not calling them by the right name. They are the long pieces of plastic that clip on your hydrolics when the outdrive is fully up. Then when you are trailering and you hit bumps, the outdrive is resting on the plastic pieces and you arn't putting undue stress on your hydrolics.

 

[Bass Runner]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Check and make sure there is a ground wire from the battery going to the solinoid for the t&t if not put one on the mount bolt to the battery neg. it won't work without a ground.

 

[cuzner]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

Hey Charlie,You find out whats wrong? Hope you got it figured out!<br /><br /> Jim

 

[charlie7538]

Re: HOW DO I LOWER THE OUTDRIVE ?? HELP, please

thanks for now everybody, i have to wait for the weekend and drier waeather to try all this stuff now. i'll let you know how i make out