1978 85hp Evinrude Tilt stopped working replace or fix

"}I finally ran my 1968 55hp t

"}I finally ran my 1968 55hp to death! I picked up a 1978 85hp from a family member. The tilt motor is a 3 wire. It ran and tilted just fine while on the boat that I removed it from. I removed it with an engine hoist, used the tilt once while on the hoist to position it better, mounted it on my Cobia. I tested the tilt after mounting and noticed that it didn't do anything,not even a sound, it was as if there was no power getting to it. I had my husband (the elctrician) come out and take a look and, of course, it worked perfectly fine as if it always had. So I figured this was just the beginning of my problems.
How right I was!! Now I'm all alone again and decide to test it again and find it to be sluggish so I decide to check the fluid level. When I went to turn the fill screw it fell out in my hand, someone had loosened it and I was lucky it hadn't just fallen out prior to me getting it. So, I got out my shop manual, filled the reservior as it said, with motor in full tilt. I ran the motor down, up, then that was it... the demons took over. The motor consitently runs fine, but the motor won't go up or down now. We have manually lifted and lowered, filled and refilled, took the motor off and filled the reservior under it in case it had an air pocket, checked all of the wiring, replaced the control switch. Lastly but not leastly, I jumped the tilt motor from the wires coming from the motor and I still get the same thing, the motor is running but the motor won't go up or down. Well ket me correct that, if it sits for a few days in the up position, when I try the motor it will go down about an inch and it's done.
1st should I go ahead and replace the monster or does someone have an idea of what else I may try?
Now, I have a backup tilt system from a motor with blown heads. I decided to put it on this motor. So I get to the pivot pin and that thing is in there but good. I've heated it and beat it, had to cut off the end because it just mushroomed. Now I don't know what to do to get that thing out of there. I decided to try the pivot pin on the Evinrude and it won't budge either. I don't want to mushroom that one too so I thought I would come here before going any further. Is there something I can do to get these out or should I take them both to a specific type of shop (marine mechanics, machine shop)?
My business is suffering badly as this is the only boat/motor that I have so I would be forever indebted to all that can help as I am at my wits end."

"Susan,

When these things b

"Susan,

When these things become really frozen, the only way to get them out is with an oxygen acetylene torch with a heating tip. The problem is that the heat can damage the o-rings and seals, and can melt the aluminum if you are not careful. This is best done with the unit off the boat, of course.

I am assuming that you are referring to the pin at the bottom of the unit which goes through the side brackets and valve body. If you decide to try the torch, it is best to set the unit up in a bearing press so that as you apply the heat you can apply some force to press it out.

You might be better off purchasing a rebuilt unit from Red Rhino ( www.obrparts.com ) , probably the leading rebuilder of outboards.

Tony"

"Thanks for the advice. I thin

"Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to take it to a shop to see if they can get it out for me. I am going to buy a new motor if I can this season $$ into my bank account. But for now another unit is not possible. I have to use what I have. I'll let you know how it goes. I have heard the same thing from a couple different people about the torch, that my little butane torch is not hot enough and that I need a brass punch or to find a way to have it on a press.
Yes the pin that I'm refering to is the one that goes through the shaft attching it to the motor, on the top. It actually pivots on that (large) pin. What's driving me nuts is that this is the one and only last item keeping me from removing both of the units."

"I have used a large, heavy du

"I have used a large, heavy duty punch, and a large hammer on the pin. I use a steel punch, and the hammer is a two pounder. Sears sells a suitable punch in the Craftsman line. I found that if I keep the punch centered, I don't have any mushrooming issue. Ditto on the torch. I have learned that on some applications, the propane torch just doesn't get hot enough. See if you can get someone with an a/c brazing set to come & heat it up for you. That is what I used last time. Good luck with it."

Alternatively use a softer met

Alternatively use a softer metal for the drift. I've recently used a copper drift with a MAPP gas burner (burns hotter than butane propane mix and is an ideal tool for brazing as mentioned by Sleeper). You still get all the benefits of heating but the mushrooming occurs on the drift and not on the pin.

"Thanks for all the suggestion

"Thanks for all the suggestions. It looks like I need to get a hotter torch, for sure, and a softer metal punch. The steel punch that I purchased just bounces all over and won't stay centered.
I was sure hoping for a miracle answer to getting the thing working as opposed to switching them out. But for now I'll just take my medicine and get busy heating and beating. I'll let ya all know how it goes."

"Finally! I got both of the un

"Finally! I got both of the units free. To get the frozen pins out I used Mapp gas with my torch and rented a Chisel Hammer Drill. The bit kept slightly mushrooming the end of the pin so I used my drill with a sanding stone on and kept cleaning the mushroomed edge. Finally I had it cleaned up enough to where it actually made the end of the pin a bit smaller so when it slightly mushroomed it wasn't larger than the hole. I then put the working unit on the motor, filled it and ran it up and down repeatedly as the per my shop manual instructions. I was excited so I spent 2 hours cleaning the boat spotless, hoping to go out that day. But my luck ain't that good. I decided to double check the fluid in the tilt unit one more time. Well what I found was a puddle of fluid on the ground. Had to take the unit back off the motor, 2 days of hard work got the one stuck screw out, replaced the O-ring under the pump motor and the reserviour and put it back together. Had to torch the snot out of the reserviour screws to get to not leak. Now it works fine, holds fluid and hopefully I'm done with this unit for quite some time.
Gonna take a break, do some fishing, sell some bait, then get out the unit that I removed and see if I can get it working.
Will update on that unit repair when done.
Until next time, thank you all so very much. Your assistance helped me in a big way."