Making a Bigger Deal than it is? - Trim Flush

[MartiMcFly]

Hey everyone, I have a 1992 Mariah with an Alpha 1 Gen 2.

The trim pump/motor is a SAE J1171 Marine, with the yellow cap that has a hole in it for self venting.

There is water in the system (that appears to have entered through the cap) and I am needing to clean it out, when I raise the trim it is very slow and but does suck oil, when I go to lower it, fills the reservoir with milk And drops at normal speed.

Process:

1. Bleed Lines
   1. Lower trim and place a piece of wood under to allow trim to rest
   2. Remove the lines from the lower unit
   3. Fill reservoir with fresh 10w-30 or 10w-40
   4. Run trim up, until lines push clean fluid
   5. Run trim down, until lines push clean fluid
2. Bleed Rams
   1. Remove both rams marked for sides
   2. Pump the ram multiple times to remove fluid
   3. Add fluid to ram and pump ram
3. Refill
   1. Reattach lines to ram with trim lowered
   2. Keep reservoir topped off while raising and lowering the trim

**Other Thoughts**

• Remove pump reservoir and clean (might get contaminated in first steps)
• Do I need to worry about the trim “stops” does any of this reset it?
• I just want to use fresh oil to flush, I don’t wan to use any solvents

Am I making this process out to be bigger than it actually is? Thanks for reading!

 

[dingbat]

Easier to just remove/swap the "return lines" from the pump and route it into a container.

Keep reservoir topped off while putting the system through it's paces until you no longer have contaminated fluid

 

[MartiMcFly]

Easier to just remove/swap the "return lines" from the pump and route it into a container.

Keep reservoir topped off while putting the system through it's paces until you no longer have contaminated fluid

Thank you for this, I was making it way more complicated in my head!

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would pull the pump, the plastic reservoirs are known to crack after 15 years

That will allow you to inspect and clean the reservoir

The only way water enters thru the cap is if the pump was submerged

Most likely one of the cylinders has a seal leak. The hydraulic seals last 15-20 years