Yamaha Tilt n' Trim

[Monkey Butler]

To bring you up to date I tore into my 1986 Yamaha at the end of last season to do a shift rod inspect/replacement. Turned out the rod showed some decay but probably would have lasted as long as the motor. But since I was this far into it I figured I would fix everything that was ailing and maybe do a paint job to make it look all minty fresh. I haven't touched anything since the big ice storm we had back in the middle of December and the only good weekends we have had so far have been dedicated to either work or clean up from the storm.

Well it was a little breezy and drizzly here yesterday but at least the temp came up enough to where I could shoo the penguins out of the garage and dig out the remaining pieces that need attention before I can start painting and reassembly. Sorry we only had my son's ceel phone cam but as always I strive to add pictures. (Although Hammer does seem to have loosened up a bit)

We pressed the lower motor mount off the steering arm and the pushed the steering arm out of the bracket...




After a little clean up the arm didn't look too bad and will be reused....




The grease in the lower part of the tube looked like new and the bottom nylon bushing was pristine. The uppper nylon bushing had only dry caked grease between it and the steering tube but the tube itself only had surface rust and a few pits on it and the upper nylon bushing was only lightly scored. I could reuse it but will order a new one if it isn't too expensive. The moral of the story is that you can never have too much grease in you steering tube. I will make sure it is oozing out of the top from now on.

Now the last problem I need to conquer...



That's the manual release screw on my tilt n' trim unit. It was stuck when I bought the boat and as you can see the screw is a little buggered up. I tried a little heat and force on it now that I had better access but it is still not moving. I'd replace the whole valve but I don't know how it comes out. There is an internal retaining ring (removed in picture) that goes in the bore but I don't know if that is just a failsafe in case you unsrcrew too much or what. The Seloc manual that I have only isn't very clear. Any help on this one?