Won't trim down but I can hear the motor

[HickoryBoy]

I promise I've searched this forum and the rest of the interwebs before posting...

1995 Johnson 150hp... won't trim down, will trim up, I hear the motor running/buzzing when I trim down. Won't trim down from any position (I can manually get it down with the manual release). I think it ran without sufficient fluid for one trip out and it stopped at the end of that trip. I filled it up yesterday and the motor runs but won't trim down. Odd thing is I hear an almost light gurgling sound if I push the UP or DOWN buttons that last just a couple of seconds and then the motor kicks in, if I've pushed the UP button it'll trim up, if I've pushed the DOWN button, the motor runs/buzzes but the engine won't move. Doesn't work from any of the trip buttons (on the engine, helm, bow). I hear/feel clicking at the relays every time I push either button, UP or DOWN.

Next steps
- loosen the fluid cap and run the trim, to get air out of it?
- lube the ram shafts (just read this somewhere else, but I can't imagine that helps here)
- I don't know

What should I try next before I take to someone who knows what they're doing, cause I don't.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Calebwitdafro]

Sounds like you have a leak somewhere and ran out of fluid. Once you have run out, simply adding fluid will not fix the problem.

Add fluid and trim the engine up for around 10 seconds. Pull the cap and add more fluid. Do this until your engine trims up. Once is does, lower it and raise it repeatedly and then check again. Only add fluid with engine RAISED, not down. Raising sucks the fluid in, and lowering pushes the fluid out. You definitely have air in your system and need to purge it out.

After it has trimmed up and down and no more fluid needs to be added, let it sit over night and check for leeks. My bet is you have a leak in your cylinder around the ram cap.

 

[HickoryBoy]

Thanks man! I really appreciate the response. So, here's what happened, I just tried it... so, it was trimmed all the way UP and wouldn't trim down at all from that position. Manually released it down just a tad bit, then it would go up and down no problem. As long as I didn't trim it to the ALL THE WAY UP position. From all the way UP it will not trim down. So that's a different issue.

 

[Calebwitdafro]

If it gets stuck when it's down, see if it's getting pinched on the trim bracket. And HOLDING it in place. Very common.