Stiff trim/tilt

[guest]

I have a 140 Johnson that I purchased last fall on a boat package. I took it out of the garage today and hoked up the battery (fully charged) and tilted the moter up and down, but it seemed vey stiff at the lower trim settings (this is when the motor bracket rests on the piston shafts). When I raise the motor while it is still resting on the compressed piston it raises very slowly and the second it comes up off the pistons it goes up with no problem. Is this normal? I cannot recall what it was like last fall as I purchased it used and winterized it without using. Any thoughts?

[phowler]

I'm no expert but I'd say it's normal.

What you described is exactly how the tilt on my 08 E-Tec works. I hope it's normal...........

[Dacotah Eye]

I believe that when it is riding on the piston shafts it is trimming your motor which is a slower movement. When it comes up off of the two shafts it is tilting and moves faster. The reverse is true when you bring it down from being tilted up. Mine operates the same way.

[REW]

Guest,
1. Make sure that all of your tilt fittings and joints are well greased.
2. Make sure that you put some oil on the rams.
3. The design of the Johnson is a 2-stage system. i.e. the first 15 degrees of tilt is actually a trim function.
So, when you began to trim up from a fully trimmed down position, the first 15 degrees will be a double action trim function. i.e. the trim will work under full power.

Then, after the first 15 degrees, you switch to the tilt function. i.e. if you have the motor trimmed up to 30 degrees and go to full power, the motor will push down the tilt ram until it encounters the trim ram and stops the motor from going down further.

It sounds like your motor is working just fine.

Take care
REW

[guest]

Thanks for the replies. I feel alot better knowing that this is normal and I am looking forward to getting out this weekend. Thanks again.