Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

[trobinson017]

I have a circa 1999 Johnson 130 Oceanpro outboard. I'm the original owner, having bought the boat from a dealer that got it from a bankruptcy sale in 2003., so I've owned it almost 5 years. The engine has about 200 hrs on it (not positive tho, no hour meter). I just learned I should check/replace the tilt/trim fluid in the reservoir. My engine manual says to drain it and fill it with new fluid so it's level with the plug/cap when the engine is at full tilt. I tried to do this yesterday. The reservoir cap is at the bottom of the reservoir. When I unscrewed the plug fluid started dripping out. I screwed it back in as this didn't mesh with what I read in the manual. It just doesn't seem right to me that the reservoir appears upside-down and that fluid leaked out when I unscrewed the cap. Am I being paranoid or should I just go ahead and drain it out and refill to the cap level per the manual?

Any advice for a newb?

trob

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

UGH!!! Update to my issue. I just went out to tilt the motor back down to normal position using the motor's own tilt buttons and it won't go!!! I can hear the system operating but nothing is happening. It won't go up either. Nothing. I'm guessing what little fluid leaked out during my original exploration may have caused air to get into the system or some other unknown issue. Any ideas? Should I just go ahead and drain out the fluid and refill according to the manual?

HELP!

trob

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Another update: I went ahead and unscrewed the reservoir cap all the way off. Only a trickle of fluid came out. I then tried to add fluid to the reservoir but it immediately spilled out. So, I thought it must be at the correct level. So I put the cap back on tightly and retried the tilt but it still won't go. The tilt support is not engaged. The tilt just isn't working although I can hear the system turn on (the electric whine?). I'm at a loss and can't find much on the internet to help. I may just try the manual release to get the motor back down which may correct whatever's hanging it up.

Anything y'all can tell me to help me out would be greatly appreciated.

OH, I also figured out why the reservoir looks upside-down.....cuz the motor is fully tilted meaning the fluid is in the lower parts of piston assembly. So when the motor is lowered that fluid has to go somewhere, hence the large upper chamber of the reservoir. At least I hope that's a correct understanding.

trob

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Well, I tried to use the manual tilt release which is a screw accessed from the port side of the engine mount. No go. I even tried using a manual impact screwdriver but it won't budge. Sprayed it with stuff to free stuck bolts. Still nothing. So my motor is stuck in the up position.

Any help???

trob

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Thr PTT resvoir cap on my '98 Johnny is a flat-head screw with a plastic cap moulded around it. It is white and mounted on the side of the resvoir, near the top. Are you sure you removed the fill?

 

[littletunny]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

stuck shuttle valve

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Thr PTT resvoir cap on my '98 Johnny is a flat-head screw with a plastic cap moulded around it. It is white and mounted on the side of the resvoir, near the top. Are you sure you removed the fill?

I'm sure I have the correct reservoir fill cap. It matches the picture in my engine manual. Similar to yours, it is a plastic cap with a screw head set in the top but does not go thru the cap. Mine stripped easily so I have to gently use visegrips to unscrew it. The cap is at the bottom of the reservoir, I believe so that when the motor is down the fluid has someplace to go.

trob

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

stuck shuttle valve

Thanks for the reply. Can you give me some more info on the "shuttle valve", like where it would be located and how I can "unstick" it?

trob

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

I dont feel that there is anything wrong with any internal valves, your problem is that you dont have sufficient oil pressure in the system to function properly. It needs to be filled and bled of air that is now in the system. Could you post a pic of your TNT unit?

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

I dont feel that there is anything wrong with any internal valves, your problem is that you dont have sufficient oil pressure in the system to function properly. It needs to be filled and bled of air that is now in the system. Could you post a pic of your TNT unit?

HighTrim and anybody else that's interested,

Here's a link to my Photobucket webpage showing various pictures of the tilt/trim hydraulics of my Johnson 130 Oceanpro.

http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk265/trobinson017/

As for bleeding the air, I don't know how to do that and I'm not finding that info in my operation manual. Any help there would be greatly appreciated.

trob

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

When filling the resevoir, was the unit tilted fully up and out?

 

[littletunny]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

I dont feel that there is anything wrong with any internal valves, your problem is that you dont have sufficient oil pressure in the system to function properly. It needs to be filled and bled of air that is now in the system. Could you post a pic of your TNT unit?

If he didn't have sufficient oil pressure, wouldn't he be able to move the motor up and down? If the motor is not budging either direction, I dont think lack of pressure is the problem. Yes No

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Chris,

Yes, the motor was fully tilted in the same position it's in now. One thing, though, I didn't set the tilt support thingy when I first did this operation. I don't know if that caused the tilt piston to lock up somehow. I've since had it engaged when not trying get the motor to move.

FWIW, I've tried manhandling the motor while pressing the motor's down-trim button. The thing just won't budge! Maybe a light tap of the tilt piston with a rubber mallet would help? I'm getting desperate!

Thanks!

Tim

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Chris,

Are you able to view the pictures I posted via a link above? Any ideas on how to at least get my motor down into normal operating position?

Thanks!

Tim

 

[bigfish5]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Trobinson,

I don't want to step on your thread and i wish i had some advise but i am a layman. I would like to hear more about how to prime the system though. You would think they would address that in the manual but they don't. My problem is just going up. The down tilt and trim is working fine as well as the up trim but when it is time for the center ram to pick up the weight it just stops. I can give it some assistance with the hand and it will go up. I think there is air in the system but can't figure out how to get it out.

Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Bigfish, Tilt the motor fully up. Block it up with the tilt lock if necessary. Make the boat level and wait 20 minutes for all the air to bubble to the top of the resvoir. Now remove the PTT Resvoir cap and fill it with Dextron III ATF. Cycle the unit a couple of time and repeat process if necessary.

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Bigfish, Tilt the motor fully up. Block it up with the tilt lock if necessary. Make the boat level and wait 20 minutes for all the air to bubble to the top of the resvoir. Now remove the PTT Resvoir cap and fill it with Dextron III ATF. Cycle the unit a couple of time and repeat process if necessary.

Any more ideas on my problem, Chris? I've posted this issue to like 5 other web forums and nobody has responded. I didn't think this would be a show-stopping problem but it's starting to look that way.

Thanks!

Tim

 

[trobinson017]

FIXED!! Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

FIXED!! Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

Wow. What a morning! I came back from a weeklong trip hoping my motor dropped down due to gravity but it didn't. I went out this morning to try and work it back down and discovered I'd left the tilt stop engaged. The gravity idea was spot on because I couldn't disengage the stop but I could last week. The weight of the motor had settled on it. So I tried to raise the motor to disengage the stop but it wouldn't raise (tilt motor working, tho). So while pressing the tilt up button I grabbed the back side of the motor and hauled up with all my might and after a squeak it raised up. I disegaged the stop and then tried the down button. Voila'!!! The motor lowered all the way! There was quite a bit of squeaking from the tilt piston and the trim pistons so I sprayed a bit of WD-40 on them and then cycled the motor up/down about 5 times. Seems to be working okay now!

I still have a problem with the manual release screw not budging. But at least now I can relax a bit and maybe even take her out for a spin later.

Thanks to all for your help!

Tim

 

[FlandersFlash]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

I've got twin Johnson 200's on an 86 Grady White. Early in the spring I had mice eat the wiring to the tilt and trim motor so I had to raise and lower them manually to take the lower unit off and in the pricess I dumped most of the fluid.
Now that I am putting the lower unit back on I repaired the wiring.

Does anyone knw how to put the fluid into the resivoir? It is like putting toothpaste back in the tube!!

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Johnson 130 Oceanpro tilt/trim resevoir

I've got twin Johnson 200's on an 86 Grady White. Early in the spring I had mice eat the wiring to the tilt and trim motor so I had to raise and lower them manually to take the lower unit off and in the pricess I dumped most of the fluid.
Now that I am putting the lower unit back on I repaired the wiring.

Does anyone knw how to put the fluid into the resivoir? It is like putting toothpaste back in the tube!!

Hiya!
All I can tell you is how I did mine. The fluid is just that, very fluid, liquidy. The stuff I have comes in a tube. I raised my motor up completely, removed the tilt reservoir cap and put the tip of the fluid tube into the hole and just squeezed the tube until fluid started running out. Then I replaced the cap and worked the tilt up/down several times. This is the quick and short description to an otherwise long and problematic story. But that was it in a nutshell.

Good luck!

trob