Adding Oil to Trim Motor

[Jonah]

Hi everyone,

Been a while since I posted here, but for the good reason of enjoying the boat lately.

My starboard F225 has a slow oil leak at the rubber seal of one of the trim pistons. I initially misdiagnosed as a hydraulic steering leak, so the oil has now gotten quite low. It now trims up slower than the port engine, and needs a little nudge to get it all the way up to engage the towing brace.

I'll have it fixed soon, but in the meantime, how do I add oil? Should I be looking for a reservoir somewhere in the stern of the hull (like for the Bennett trim tabs?), or does one add oil somewhere on the outboard or trim unit itself?

I'll be Googling now, but in case anyone has any quick tips, I'd be grateful.

 

[Ozz043]

With the engine raised you will see a hexagonal nut on the LHS of the tilt trim unit itself. Undo the nut and add the oil via syringe or pump until oil starts coming back out, raise and lower once or twice then let it sit for an hour, recheck. Reservoir is full when oil runs out.

 

[Ky Grady]

Yep,,,what he said ^^^^^^^^^^

Really need to replace those seals before you get water intrusion into the pistons and rust sets up and ruins the unit.

 

[Fishtales]

Agree. If you don't you'll end up changing more than just the seal....

 

[Halfhitch]

"needs a little nudge to get it all the way up to engage the towing brace".

If, by this, you mean the safety prop built into the transom clamp of the motor, that is not a towing brace. It is intended as a safety latch to be used while working around and under the engine. It is not designed for the forces generated when traveling down the road. If you were referring to some other device, disregard this warning. Just didn't want you to damage your latch.

 

[seasick]

For your safety, use the latch when you work on the trim unit just in case the motor decides to move.
Open the fill plug on the reservoir (under the motor connected to the trim pump) and add auto trans fluid, like Dextron ATF ( not the newest ATF 3 04 or whatever they are called) just regular auto trany fluid. A syringe will help. When the fill overflows, reinsert the plug and trim the motor up off of the safety latch, disengage the latch and cycle the motor up and down a few times. Raise again, set the safety and check the fluid level. Watch out, fluid may forcefully spit out of the fill hole when you open it.
You may need to repeat the sequence a few times to bleed out air. When the air is gone, you can tell by the sound the pump makes.

 

[Jonah]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful, as always.

And yes, I WAS under the impression that the safety clamp would be useful when towing. Fortunately I have never towed this boat, so didn't actually make the mistake.