Last week I brought the boat down river and up the bay to pull it out of the water for my move to NC. When I started it up, I couldn't get the port engine down. The pump was working but the engine wasn't moving, so I had to make the trip on one engine. The Starboard engine trim was fine, but as far as I could tell the tabs weren't working either. Is there a way to lower it manually? I want to lower the engines while I am towing it to minimize stress to the transom.
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Engine Trim
- Thread starter askibum02
- Start date
catch22
Well-Known Member
Yes you can. There is a manual relief screw on the side of the trim/tilt pump. Access is usually through a hole in the side of the motor bracket. Should be a large slotted screw head. Turn it counter-clockwise to relieve the preasure and the motor will drop on it's own. Be carefull.
What if I don't have a bracket? :wink: The hydraulic reservoir is in the transom, next to the starboard battery and switches. Would the pump be in the same area?
gradyfish22
GreatGrady Captain
As mentioned above, the motor can be trimed down with the relief screw, it goes down quickly, watch your hands!!! You need to let it down very slowly, be patient. As for the tabs, did you hear the pump running? Pumps on many Grady models are in the cabin usually under the v berth or under the floor. It could be located aft near the transom on older models, but if it is not there I'd check the cabin, check your stbd side v berth compartment.
Be very carefull dropping the motor manually I saw a guy do that and he had his left hand crushed by the motor, the motor actually locked in the don position with his hand in between so just remmeebr keep the hands away and remeber the motor is aboou 200kg in weight.
magicalbill
GreatGrady Captain
I was told by my dealership to trailer with the engines tilted all the way up and to flip the little lever down that the engine weight rests on.
Does this put stress on my bracket on my 232 Gulfstream?
I have twin 200 four-strokes, so the stern weight is about as heavy as it can be.
Does this put stress on my bracket on my 232 Gulfstream?
I have twin 200 four-strokes, so the stern weight is about as heavy as it can be.
gradyfish22
GreatGrady Captain
Any stresses from the bouncing on the road are very small compared to what the engines and bracket/transom endure out at sea pounding through waves at high speeds. The down position would likely put the least amount of stress on everything, but that is fully down, not 2/3, too much stress is on the cylinders then. The bad side to down is with many trailers, especially for bigger boats, they are low and put your lower unit close to the ground where you can damage them. If you trailer with it up, use the flip bar and tilt down to get rid of some of the weight, this will keep the engine in a state of tension, limiting some of the stress and motion from the bouncing on the road. If you trailer once in a while, that is fine, but if you trailer a lot, I'd invest in a lower unit saver, those things that brace the lower unit and apply some pressure to the trailer when tilted.
Well, I am only towing about 360 miles, so I may just leave the engines up, and use the lever lock to keep them up.
As far as the trim tabs go, when I was attempting to adjust them, the attitude of the boat wasn't changing no matter which way I pushed the tab switches.
As far as the trim tabs go, when I was attempting to adjust them, the attitude of the boat wasn't changing no matter which way I pushed the tab switches.
Tuna Man
GreatGrady Captain
Brett,
Regarding the trim tabs here are my thoughts;
If you were going very slow (less than five knots) the tabs do very little on most boats. If you were above that speed and both tabs appeared to do nothing, I suspect someone tripped the fuse for the trim tabs. This is easily done by lifting one tab while lowering the other tab at the same time. Or to put it another way, if you rock the starboard trim tab switch up and the port trim tab switch down at the same time - you will blow the fuse every time. I suspect many members on this forum have done this once (or twice in my case...).
Regarding the trim tabs here are my thoughts;
If you were going very slow (less than five knots) the tabs do very little on most boats. If you were above that speed and both tabs appeared to do nothing, I suspect someone tripped the fuse for the trim tabs. This is easily done by lifting one tab while lowering the other tab at the same time. Or to put it another way, if you rock the starboard trim tab switch up and the port trim tab switch down at the same time - you will blow the fuse every time. I suspect many members on this forum have done this once (or twice in my case...).
Well, I was going about 15knts, so I will have to look at the fuse to see if that is blown. Thanks for the suggestion!