I bought a 5hp Yamaha outboard, probably late 1980s make, and have some trouble figuring out the tilt lock.
There is a mechanism where a small vertical rod attached to the drive shaft pushes up the tilt lock catch so that the tilt lock cannot be engaged while the motor is facing in the normal direction for forward travel. However, if the motor is rotated 180 degrees the tilt lock will catch.
I understand why this makes sense if the motor has only a forward gear - the lock would catch if you swivel the motor to go in reverse, which is exactly when it is needed.
However, the engine has a reverse gear and there is no need to physically swivel the motor to go backward. But the reverse gear is currently useless. Due to the tilt lock releasing mechanism described above, running the motor in reverse gear simply causes the motor to tilt up out of the water instead of pushing the boat backward. The only way I can go backward is by leaving the motor in forward gear and physically swiveling the motor.
Would it be sensible to bend or remove the vertical rod that releases the tilt lock so it would engage while the motor faces forward? This would allow the use of the reverse gear. I do not understand why it was built this way given that the engine has a reverse gear.
Thank you,
David
There is a mechanism where a small vertical rod attached to the drive shaft pushes up the tilt lock catch so that the tilt lock cannot be engaged while the motor is facing in the normal direction for forward travel. However, if the motor is rotated 180 degrees the tilt lock will catch.
I understand why this makes sense if the motor has only a forward gear - the lock would catch if you swivel the motor to go in reverse, which is exactly when it is needed.
However, the engine has a reverse gear and there is no need to physically swivel the motor to go backward. But the reverse gear is currently useless. Due to the tilt lock releasing mechanism described above, running the motor in reverse gear simply causes the motor to tilt up out of the water instead of pushing the boat backward. The only way I can go backward is by leaving the motor in forward gear and physically swiveling the motor.
Would it be sensible to bend or remove the vertical rod that releases the tilt lock so it would engage while the motor faces forward? This would allow the use of the reverse gear. I do not understand why it was built this way given that the engine has a reverse gear.
Thank you,
David