Motor Tilts up but not down

[brianstonelake]

Hi All-

Newbie here. I bought an old Maxum 2300 SCR and am beginning the huge task of learning what the hell I'm doing so that I can get it out on the water. It's way too much boat for a first time owner. I'm in way over my head. I'm not giving up.

It has a stern drive Mercruiser Alpha One V8 5.7 L.



I've managed to search this forum for all my problems so far, but today I'm stuck.

I'm trying to lower the motor to run it for a while so that I can change the oil. The main problem is that it won't tilt down, but while I'm here maybe I can fire off a few questions:

1) What is trim/tilt: The way I understand trim and tilt is that they both raise/lower the motor. The tilt loosely speaking raises it in and out of the water and the trim adjusts the angle of propulsion. Some boats have a trailer button that takes the place of what are the tilt buttons on my boat. If mine were currently all the way up and I wanted to take the boat out on the water, I'd have to first lower the tilt all the way down first to get the motor in the water, then further adjust the angle with the trim. That all sound right?



2) How to store the motor: I've had the boat in my driveway for a couple months, mostly taking care of cosmetic things. I've had the motor all the way up (which to me means the tilt is all the way up, because trim doesn't really come into play until the tilt is down, if I understand tight). I've read conflicting things about storing the motor this way. If I'm going to keep the boat in my driveway, what is the best way to tilt the motor?

3) Trim down to run it in neutral?: Today's task is to change the oil. I read that I should run the boat for a while first to heat the oil so that it better removes impurities. I also read that I should lower the motor (using the tilt) before I run it. Is that true that the motor should be in the down position if it's in my driveway with muffs on if I want to run it?

4) Why won't it tilt down?!?!: The crux of my problem: With the motor all the way up, when I pressed the tilt down button, it sounded like it's working but the motor doesn't budge. When I press tilt up, it moves up slightly hitting the limit and then stops. I read (on here somewhere, I think) that sometimes you just have to manually push the motor down. I hate this, but did it (I pushed the motor down, wife pressed the button) and managed to get the motor down (not quite all the way as it's pretty close to the ground). That is what's pictured above. In this position, tilt up still seems to work fine, but tilt down still sounds good but doesn't move. Why do I need to push it down manually? How can I fix this? Any thoughts?

In the "mostly down" position, I managed to get the engine running. Everything seems fine as far as my ignorant eye can tell, so I guess that's good.

Sorry this is all so long. Because I'm new I wanted to make sure that I was providing ample info out of respect for anyone willing to try to help me. Thanks for any help/advice/encouragement!

[mmwjr]

The size of one’s first boat is a matter of personal preference. I know folks who started with the size you have and within a few years went to a smaller boat while other move up. I knew one guy who started with a 36’ and in a few years went larger.

Trim allows one to adjust the angle the bow is cutting through the water. For maximum efficiency/performance this can be adjusted while trying to get the boat on plane. Several variables can affect this such as weight of souls and gear on board as well as its distribution front to back. Other things are if you are running with the current or against it as well as wave height.

You are trimming the drive not the motor. The trailer position is just that, it raises the drive all the way up so it doesn’t bottom out when you hit bumps while trailing the boat. The drive should be stored down so it doesn’t freeze in the raised position due to mild corrosion on the hydraulic rams. Additionally there are bellows, rubber boots that allows the drive to be raised and turn side to side. These don’t like to be stored in the raised position as premature failure of them will occur allows water to leak into the boat as well as water getting to the universal joints and gimbal bearing ruining them.

You drive won’t go down because of one of two things; corrosion on the rams not allowing them to retract (doesn’t take much) or the down solenoid is back not operating the down function of the trim pump, do you hear it running?

[brianstonelake]

This is great, thanks Mike!

I do hear the pump running, so maybe there is corrosion on the rams. Are these the rams?




If so, is there a better solutions than just forcing the motor down to get them all the way out, then polish them with a rag?

Thanks again,
Brian

[mmwjr]

Hi Brian, yes that’s the rams. Try using a Scottbright pad to clean them.

[mmwjr]

If that doesn’t work they may need to be rebuilt or replaced. The rubber o rings can get hard preventing movement as well.

[brianstonelake]

Great, thanks. Will do (and report back)!

[brianstonelake]

Update (in case it helps anyone else):

Before trying to clean the rams, we tried the trim and tilt buttons again today and everything worked fine.

I guess it was just sticking a little yesterday, who knows?

With the trim/tilt working, we put the drive (not the motor, lol) all the way up, then cleaned off the rods (which didn't have anything on them that I could see, but no harm in a little cleaning), then lowered the drive back as far as we could, ran the engine for a while, then pumped out the oil. Success!

In case anyone wants to laugh at me, we then took off the filter and realized that it was the fuel filter and not the oil filter. Oops. Heading to the store later to get an oil filter and finish the job.

A couple questions remain:
1) I still don't understand the difference between the trim and tilt buttons. I get that the purpose of the tilt is to move the drive between the trailering position (up) and the driving position (down). I get that the trim is to adjust the angle between the bow and the water for performance. But when I press the respective buttons, they appear to do the exact same thing. What am I missing?

2) I tried to put the engine in gear in my driveway. I just wanted to see it work before we get it on the water. I had the muffs hooked up and the engine down (almost all the way; had to stop just short because it would hit the ground) so I figured from the POV of the boat it might as well have been in the water. The engine immediately died. Feels like a safeguard to prevent an idiot (me) from engaging the motor when you're not supposed to. Is that right? And if so, why can't I put it in gear in my driveway?

Thanks again for all the help!

[mmwjr]

There is gear lube in the drive the probably should be changed as well. About 1.5 quarts for an Alpha drive. The tilt up has a limit switch to prevent the drive from being raised to far bringing the propeller out of the water where the tilt will bring it up further. Under Documents of this site you will find the Mercruiser manuals for your engine and drive.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to put the drive in gear out of the water. Does it die for both forward and reverse?

[brianstonelake]

Thanks Mike! We finished the crankcase oil and filter and have our eyes set on the drive oil next.

And yes, the engine dies whether I attempt to shift into forward or reverse. I suspect I'm missing something obvious. When the throttle (remote control?) is "out" toward port an inch or so, I believe it's in neutral. I can push the throttle forward to rev the engine no problem. When I return the throttle to the middle position in clicks back in an inch or so starboard. I thought that I put it in drive by squeezing the button on the top of the throttle and pushing forward. However when I do so it only moves a couple of degrees (wether I push forward or backward) and immediately dies. I'm pushing as hard as I feel comfortable, but the throttle seems stuck in the middle. Any ideas? Sorry for all the questions!

[mmwjr]

If I’m following you with the shift mechanism disengaged you can advance the throttle easily but when the gear shift is engaged the control is stiff. If yes the shift cable is probably bad. You can try disconnecting it at the shift plate in the engine compartment to see if that makes a difference.

[mmwjr]

Bingo! You got it.

Beer works for payment. ☠️

[brianstonelake]

Success! I disconnected the wires to the shift interrupt switch, and as you predicted, it didn't die when I shifted it into gear!

So now I replace the cables? That's starting to feel a little above my pay grade. Any thoughts?

Here's my son's video of putting it into gear after I disconnected the wires. Does this sound good to you? Sees like a lot of banging and rattling, but what do I know?

https://youtu.be/WYWRfTKrsnc

[brianstonelake]

Also, is there a way to edit the title of this thread? I feel like it could be useful to others?

[mmwjr]

You may want to have a mechanic replace and adjust the cables. Also you are shifting too slowly. It needs to be a quick shift both in and out of gear. I heard a belt slip when the engine was started. Then a noise I didn’t like but not sure what it is. Try removing the belts and start the engine again on a video.

[Mr Hemi]

If your trim down doesnt work all the times clean the contacts on the trim switches on the drive.,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUEQQq5p0Q4

.
Easy to do, but take your time, once clean you might be able to get gauge to work properly.You Tube is your friend.
2. Clean spark arrestor The thing that looks like a air filter on top of carb its really dirty).
3. Doing plugs and wires is always a good place to start, especially if you want good starts and power, and check current plugs for potential problems.
5. Never run drive above 1500 RPM on muffs, and never start boat without muffs ever, not even 10 seconds.
4. Its a older drive, expect some noise.
I just replaced the pump on a Alpha 1 drive, cause it would not go up very fast.start with replacing soleniods first if drive is slow and clean all old contacts. Make sure battery unhooked.
6. Replace impellor, its what keeps boat from overheating, and must be done every couple years.(You Tube).
Dont get overwhelmed, just try and do 1 thing at a time, Most stuff mentioned is time not much expenses.

[mmwjr]

The trim limit switch on the side of the gimbal ring is only in the trim up circuit where the OP is having a trim down issue. But yes sometimes the contacts on this switch can get corroded but most of the time the wires break off of it.

[Mr Hemi]

Dont run drive if its in fully up position, might be reason for knocking.
My guess is it will smooth out with more throttle/.
Check belts for wear, not something you want to find out about on the water.

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Mr Hemi

Dont run drive if its in fully up position, might be reason for knocking.
My guess is it will smooth out with more throttle/.

Agree the drive needs to be in the lowered position when operating.

[Mr Hemi]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

The trim limit switch on the side of the gimbal ring is only in the trim up circuit where the OP is having a trim down issue. But yes sometimes the contacts on this switch can get corroded but most of the time the wires break off of it.

If wires are not broken he might be able to get gauge working. From pictures its pretty messed up.
Also pictures showed a really dirty spark arrestor, thats why I am thinking maintenance was not kept up.
My first boat was 2002-2500SCR, and I remember being completely overwhelmed with worries, but thanks to some here you included I managed to do all the repairs myself.
Love the boat has 442 hours on it now.
Guy has a nice boat, hopefully it doesnt need a ton of work, motor seems to run good.?

[brianstonelake]

Thanks all!

I'm taking it into a mechanic but will follow up in a couple of weeks.

Mike - I've reached out to Brewer's Landing in Essex about getting you a couple pints, we'll see how that goes.
Brian