Trim Has Difficulty Lowering Engine

[Racer57]

2007 3.0 Mercruiser Alpha One, Gen Two. For the last two years once in awhile I have difficulty lowering the engine.

It will start to go down, then I can hear the whine of the pump change and it sounds like it is binding and will lower no further. If I cycle up/down a few times it will eventually
lower and be fine for w few days or weeks. Then it will have difficulty again. Trim fluid level OK, the rams look clean and are not bent as far as I can tell so no obvious sign as towhy it is binding in the down direction only.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Trim Has Difficulty Lowering Engine

My bravo 1 outdrive does that too sometimes. I just put it in forward and idle along and it seems to go down. It is usually when I am at the mooring and heading to the dock to pick up the crew.

I'm not sure if it is binding or if there is an air pocket in the lines. There are 'barnacle cutters' on the rams; their job is to strip off any marine growth before it goes into the cylinder. That may be where things are binding up.

 

[achris]

Re: Trim Has Difficulty Lowering Engine

'How' is because the UP force is higher then DOWN force, because of the relative surface area that the pressure is working against. 'What' is the trim ram end cap. They get a bit of water under them and start to corrode, then as they expand they 'grab' the piston rod. I have had limited success with cleaning the cap, better to just replace it... It's not a difficult job. The part number for the cap is -806191T.

Chris............

 

[Racer57]

Re: Trim Has Difficulty Lowering Engine

Thanks I will give that a try an let you know.