Drive trim Problem

If the motor is working the whole time it sounds like the oil is low. There should be a container with red oil mounted on the inside of the boats transom. It uses automatic trans fluid. Going down is obviously easier because of gravity. Also if it is low on fluid it will sound funny. Good luck.

QUOTE(hammer @ Apr 29 2003, 07:59 PM)If the motor is working the whole time it sounds like the oil is low. There should be a container with red oil mounted on the inside of the boats transom. It uses automatic trans fluid. Going down is obviously easier because of gravity. Also if it is low on fluid it will sound funny. Good luck.
yes, diagnosis sounds good Dr. hammer.

maybe a cracked line somewhere ? bad seal ?

The current fluid is a milky brown color. I was told to use 30w oil, will that harm the system? Thanks for the help so far...

Pete

who told you 30W? All the trim tab pumps I've seen were trans fluid. If it was milky colored and you havent put anything into it, I'd think it had water in it somehow. Good luck.

Sure sounds like you gotta leak -- check the bilge to make sure that you don't have hydraulic fluid down there. Also, check the back of the boat when you got her in the water. If it's leaking through on of the metal hoses, you'll see the tell-tale sheen on the surface of the water. BTW, those hose do go bad, that'd be the 1st thing that I'd check.

dont use oil, if you did put oil in there, suck it out and push the engines down manually to push the oil in the tubes out, clean out the resevoir and replace it with the proper transmission fluid, run the engines up and down a couple of times to flush it, then replace the fluid again.

I dont think you will do major damage using the oil as the fluid is used as a hydraulic liquid to lift the engines. The proper liquid has wont compress under pressure and doesnt present a fire problem.

They are right about sounding like a leak, and could be the hose, if there is even a small leak there it would suck in water and mix with the system when it operates, likewise it would leak fluid in the reverse.

30w oil is what my outboard trim takes on my bass boat. It didn't sound right to me....... I confirmed it in the service manual. It works..... but remember, I'm taking about an outboard motor. I think you're referencing a outdrive. Trans fluid should be the ticket. Check your manuals and confirm what you need to use. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the advice, I just got bacvk in to town from New Orleans and a huge poker run. I watched a turbine powered cat run at 140 mph (Radar verified) and shoot flames 45 feet in the air when he was done. I love boating....

I filled the resivour (sp?) with oil and the trim is now working again. I ran it up and down 10 times and checked for oil in the water and saw none. I also checked for oil in the bilge and didn't see any, so I am hoping that the problem is fixed. Thanks again for the help....

QUOTE(Spider @ Apr 30 2003, 02:53 PM)who told you 30W? All the trim tab pumps I've seen were trans fluid. If it was milky colored and you havent put anything into it, I'd think it had water in it somehow. Good luck.
I thought he meant trim pump at first buy he said drive pump. Some earlier drive pumps DO use motor oil. I talked to Ron at Dynamic Speed and learned that. Make sure you check on boats from the eighties and such.

You guys rock...... Nice team work!