Power Tilt/Trim not moving.

the motor is a 1995 Johnson 150HP ocean runner.

I opened the winter cover and ran the motor up and down two weeks ago. There was a little gurgling sound like air in the system, but it worked OK. Today with the motor in the up position I tried to lower it. The tilt motor runs but the motor doesn't move.
I tried both up and down to see if it could just be stuck but no luck. I checked the fuild and it is full. No other weird sounds to report.

any thoughts?

Possible air lock in the oil pump area. Use a rag or something along with a air nozzle to apply 7 to 12 psi of air (no higher) to the reservoir. That should force the air bubble out of the way if it exists to allow the oil pump to function. Let us know what you find.

Perhaps wait till the weather warms up and try again.----------If there was a bit of water in the oil you may have a " small ice plug " in there.

I tried the air in the reservoir but no luck. I also tried bouncing the engine lower unit with the pump running and still no results. I think the hydraulic system is not primed.
Is there some way to bleed this pump?
BTW Outside temp today is about 33F. I'm not sure how to warm the day up.

Should I put some heat on the pump? I don't have a heat gun but I do have a pumber's soldering torch. I just dont want to damage anything.

John

You could have a broken coupling between the mtr and the pump. Will it go down if open the manual release valve ?

I gave it a break for about an hour and just tried it again. This time it worked. There is normal sounds in the down direction but a whirling, gurgling noise going up. It sounds like there is air in the oil. I ran it up amd down about ten times and checked the hydaulic oil level. It was full butthe oil had many tiny air bubbles. I left it up for about ten minutes to let the oil settle. I tried it again and now it is stuck in the up position again.

Am I looking at a rebuild? Is that a DIY job? what would it cost to have it rebuilt at a pro shop?

More update. I took the pump off the Motor and now have it on a bench. Before I removed it completely I removed the upper end pin (about 1" dia, it was quite a job getting it to move) and I ran the pump up and down with no weight on it. Going all the way down I heard a bubbling sound as if the pump was purging air in it hydraulic system. After that, with the ram at about midway, I opened the oil reservoir and it let out a good amount of air and the oil was very foamy with air bubbles. That can't be normal.

Any idea where the air is coming from? How do you bleed these pumps or are they self bleeding?