Leaking Trim Cylinder

[vangrady]

I believe that one of my trim cylinders is leaking on my Yami 250 TXRY (204 hours on each). I was tilting up my engine after a trip this weekend and noticed that the pump was making a gurgling sound and was tilting the engine very slowly until the trim piston rods were at their maximum stroke. At this point, the tilt cylinder raised the engine to the full up position without a problem which makes me think it is only the trim cylinders that are not working properly (leaking). I also noticed a fairly large oil sheen on the water behind my boat. Would anyone know if this is a difficult repair that should be tackled by a factory mechanic? Thank you.

 

[ahill]

It's an easy and inexpensive fix if you do it yourself.
Your local yam parts dealer can walk you thru it.
Most mechs I see don't bother with the yam tool. They use a drift to loosen cap & then install a new cap, cheap, and snug down with the drift.
I wayched mine done by a mech the first time & have done the others myself ever since.
I learned a fluid fill tip in the process, use a plastic spray bottle set to stream to refill the resorvoir.

 

[vangrady]

Thanks Ahill. I spoke to my mechanic last year about the reliability of the tilt/trim pump unit. He mentioned that they were a challenge to repair since the boat has to be hauled, transom bolts removed on one side of the mounting bracket, steering ram unbolted and then you have to slide out the whole cylinder/pumpset for repairs. I assume this is to repair the tilt cylinder and not the trim cylinders. I will go ahead with the do-it-yourself repair that you suggested.
Thanks again.

 

[Enough Already]

You are probably on the right track but do you know for sure where the leak is coming from? Seems the motors are pretty young to be having that issue. MIne lasted over 8 years before leaking. I would top off, bleed and cycle to find the leak. Maybe you get lucky and its just a loose fill or something.

 

[Motivator]

Is this type of repair covered under warranty? Provided warranty hasn't expired.

 

[Tucker]

I bought the tool to remove the caps. Yea, it was $100 but swinging a hammer around the tilt cyl rod got me nervious. In addition to replacing the trim seals, I sucked out all the old oil and replace with new. It really made the entire unit sound smoother. Recall reading on another forum that the valving inside is very small and clogs with dirt hence much of the screatching sound.

 

[Fishshoreman]

Sorry to butt in but... my strbd tilt motor runs slower than the port side. Do you think it could be the valve or motor going. My marina said the unit is bad @$1200 but I don't think they troubleshot it.

 

[Tucker]

At $1200 for a new unit that is a bargain. Think they're close to $3K for Yamaha TT units.