Draining tilt,trim,fluid reservoir
 

My Alpha1 stern drive won't go up or down. but, the motor will still work. Has water in it due to being milky in color. Will fluid drain out of reservoir by taking off lines itself or can you turn on trim switch on and let motor pump it out? Is the system self bleeding after replacing fluid. Will the air work itself out.

Alpha1 tilt,and trim
 

Today, I opened up the lines on the stern drive. Fluid drained out slowly. Sure enough,fluid was milky. Stern drive came down as from being stuck in up position. Turned on up-down trim button for a short time. Not to over heat motor. Did the same with trailer button. Still can't figure out what the trailer button does. Placed clear zip lock bags around openings of open lines to catch fluid, and to watch for the new fluid to coming out. Stern drive locked in the down position after taking off lines. Lifting up and down on drive worked out bad fluid from rams. Filled with milky fluid too. Moving drive up and down help removed the bad stuff out.
Filled fluid reservoir with 10-30 wt. oil. Started to see good fluid coming out. Just had 3 quarts to use and ran out of oil. Going to get more tomorrow. Let you know what happens.

Alpha1 tilt,and trim
 

I'll try taking off both rams and spray dishwasher soap on them while under pressure. Watching for fluid or air bubbles.

Aphia1 Stern Drive Problem Update
 

Sprayed liquid dish-washing soap on rams and found no leaks or air bubbles, reinstalled rams and lines to drive. Lowered drive down by hand. Used a Gallon of 10-30 wt. oil through reservoir to clean out milky fluid. Plastic baggies around lines where very useful. Tried my trim and trailer switches and everything works!! Hope this helps someone else.:wink_thumbup:

Good stuff Douglas. Glad you were able to get her fixed!

Aphia1 Stern Drive Problem Update
 

Going to try it out this week. Give you an update later! :wink_thumbup:

I got a bunch of water in my trip pump reservior through the yellow cap. I think Mercruiser even had a service bulletin about this. I took a big wake from a house boat over the stern while stationary and water poured in from the vents. It smoked my bilge blower and got water in the trim pump reservior.

HTH
~J

Plugged Drains
 

Both drains in stall seem to be not attached to anything. Water must just run into the bildge. Came to the conclusion that weight of boat on the trailer might be causing the water from not draining. After buying this boat a few weeks ago and traveling 600 miles with it on the trailer. The frame support in the middle was found to have cracked from the weight of boat resting on fenders now. Water may not be able enter bildge. With the weather being so bad this week, waiting to float boat and get welding of the trailer fixed, and raise the bunker boards up. Hope this is the problem!!
I'm taking pictures of the boat on the trailer.

They are vented into the bilge now. The port side vent has two cutouts but I was only aware of the one going to the bilge blower. The cutout without ducting was right above the trim pump. Now I have ducting on both and a great big loop going to the blower:wink_thumbup:

Anyways, to get the watery oil out I used a turkey baster to suck out the reservior every time I got back from the lake. I eventually got all of it.

~J

WetWilly,

I burned a small hole at the bottom of the loop with a wood burning iron. When you kick the blower on it clears it pretty fast:wink_thumbup:

I'm in Houston, TX right now but when I get back to good ole Oklahoma I'll get you a picture of it. There is about 2.5feet of tube in the loop alone.

~J

p.s. When using the turkey baster to remove oil. Take the bulb off and drop a ball bearing thats bigger than the end. It will act like a check valve so you don't dribble(as much) oil everywhere. You have to take the bulb off to empty but its worth it.

Test Drove Sterndrive
 

Took the boat yesterday and stern drive worked without any problems. Hoping that only water in reservoir caused stern drive from not responding to up and down trim. Draining milky fluid from system did the job. :wink_thumbup:

Doug,

Thats great news:yes_grin:

~J

Same thing
 

Thanks for the info on how to do this. I just did mine last night and it works now and the fluid is clean. I think mine got water in it over time from previous owners and the yellow cap with the hole in it. (neglect on the part of the former owner didn't help either). Just remember to be careful to point those lines into the place you want them to drain. I forgot one of the times and sprayed oil all over the place and had to clean it up.:worry_to_laugh:

Re: Draining tilt,trim,fluid reservoir
 

I just completed the same procedure on my Z275. The problem seems to be rainwater entering the the filler cap.
When I parked my boat at home for winter it was tilted to starboard. Water filled the ledge under the engine hatch and overflowed onto the trim assembly. I used my Oil vacuum pump to suck out the bad oil-water mix.
Tested trim up and down about 10 cycles after refilling with fresh 10W30.
Oil got a little milky so I sucked that out and tried again. One the third time the oil stayed clear.
I'll make sure that the whole boat is covered this winter. I may also install drains at each corner so water goes directly into the bilge. (my boat is not covered in summer).
Just a thought.