Evinrude Etec E150DPXAAB 2012 150HP motor power tilt and trim stuck in down position

I have an Evinrude Etec 150HP motor with power tilt and trim hydraulic unit.

The motor is tilted in the down position and I cannot get the power tilt and trim unit hydraulic pump motor to run. I have checked

• that there is 12V coming out of the relay to the motor blue and green wires
• I have even connected 12V directly to the motor plug in both polarities but the motor will not turn
• The resistance of the motor seems very high > 130kohms i.e. seems open circuit
• I have checked that the limit switch circuit is closed

The main issue I am having is that I cannot get the manual release screw to turn. I have sprayed several types of anti-corrosion sprays like Corrosion X and Shift Ya Bastard and also tried heating the screw and / or case or the hydraulic pack around the manual release screw and then using a manual impact driver but it just isn't turning. The head is getting pretty stuffed up too (see pic).

At this point, I'm just keen to get the engine tilted so that I can replace the power tilt and trim unit or just the motor.

A mechanic I spoke to said that to move the boat he could take the propeller shaft / gearbox off.

I was wondering whether anyone could tell me whether if I took the lower pin that goes through the hydraulic tilt unit out and also the other pin that looks like just there to restrain things if needed - both outlined in pic - whether I could then tilt the whole assembly up or whether it would clash with something else? Also, am wondering how you get a pin like shown in position 1 out…. It has kind of a circlip but I have never seen one like it - it has no bits to pull apart - any advice appreciated.

Iam open to any other suggestions that would help me get this unit fixed.

So with 12 volts + to blue and 12 volts- to green the motor does not turn ?

Thanks for your reply.

That is correct - I have tried both polarities i.e. to try and turn the motor either way, with a known good battery, and nothing happens. When I put a multimeter across the blue and green to the motor, the resistance is > 130k which seems too high for a motor winding, but I am not sure.

My main question is really whether if I take the bottom pin out that goes through the bottom of the tilt pack, whether I would then be able to tilt the motor up - i.e. with the hydraulic cylinder still in same position - enough to get better access to the tilt pack so that I could either get better access to the motor or manual release or find some other way to release the pressure or maybe even replace the motor. The thing I don't know is whether there is anything on the motor / tilt housing that would prevent the pack from tilting up (locked in current position).

I read that these tilt hydraulics have a relief or something that will activate if the motor hits something - presumably it is like a high high pressure relief. I can't find a manual for the pack but i was wondering whether I could apply enough force to make that happen.

I am pleased to say that I thought I would try and apply enough force to cause the collision relief to activate. This worked for me and I was able to raise the motor up. As it was coming up I think I could hear the hydraulic oil moving - either way it has worked. And, after doing that I tried turning the manual relief screw again with the impact driver. I was able to get it to do 1 full turn. I've now sprayed some more anti-corrosion in there and will see if I can get it loose enough after a few more whacks to turn it by hand.

Interestingly, once in the up position I thought I would try the up down buttons. The motor did turn in the down direction very briefly but then stopped again. I will try and measure the current and voltage from / on the battery when I do this. When I tried previously I convinced myself that the batteries were good and I did try a separate battery. I didn't see any dip of the voltage at any time. The wiring to the motor looks fine - not damaged in any obvious way.

I am just stoked that it is in the up position now. I think I will replace the whole unit just to be sure. Thanks.

What did you use to get it up there ???? Good Job !!!!

After finally reading this post, I have a question. How long did it sit between the time it worked and today? Photos indicate a saltwater motor? Have you lubed the tilt pivots and all moving parts related to trim/tilt? Once removed, this unit can likely be rebuilt, it will save you a bucket load of "bank".

Boobie said:

What did you use to get it up there ???? Good Job !!!!

Click to expand...

I just used a block and tackle - I set it up so the chain was kind of pulling the bottom of the motor more horizontally than vertically - I didn't want to lift the boat, just apply force in the direction as though it hit an object in water. I did apply a fair bit of pulling force - remember to chock trailer as it did move slightly before i did. When I pulled it a bit I could hear the PTT hydraulic oil moving - it got to a point where I didn't want to put too much more pull on it. Then I tried whacking the manual relief screw with the impact driver and I could then hear more oil movement and after that the screw moved a bit more - still only with impact driver. I got it a full turn, and then tried lifting again with the block and tackle and it moved fully up, slowly but I didn't have to put as much pressure on it. I don't really understand why the increase in pressure would have made the manual relief be more able to turn - I didn't hit it any harder than what I had tried previously - but that's what happened.

The boat has sat for about 3 months stuck in the down position since the last time it worked. Prior to that because of COVID and new child it had only seen the water a few times in last year or two. I did run the engine regularly and had kept the batteries charged etc, but yeah it had been idle for a while. I have not lubed the tilt pivots or anything relating to the PTT previously or since stuck in down pos. It had been rock solid prior to now. The unit does look to be in reasonable condition so I will get quotes for rebuilding vs replacement - I definitely take your point. I think either way looking at at least 1 to 2 boat units of $.

Thanks for the come back !!

[FONT=&quot]Well, I got the PTT unit out. For the top pin, I used a ball joint press - made it extremely easy. Unfortunately for the lower pin, I could not source a large enough one locally. I did find one on the web but shipping was going to cost a lot. So I tried a bigger hammer and that got the lower pin. I used small screwdriver to remove the retainer on the other pin in position "1" and it came off nicely too.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]One annoying thing that happened is that when I unclipped the motor connector from the plug that connects to the relay module, for some reason this time it kind of sprung down beyond where I could reach. I had disconnected it several times before and this didn't happen. I had wanted to tape some wire to each cable after I removed from connector it so I could just pull it back through when I re-installed the new / refurbed PTT. Anyway, I pulled it through to the other side and taped a pull-wire to each and then pulled them down through the wiring protector.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I did have to remove the trim sender to get the PTT out and it made pulling the cables through easier.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Motor still doesn't turn. I have sourced a replacement unit that I am going to pick up today hopefully.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I've put a few more pics in the dropbox link [/FONT]https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tmnhp4171h1d23a/AACWStPj48liUKkpqZS2TOj9a?dl=0


[FONT=&quot]I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1. Cleaning the pins and the holes up - the pins look a bit corroded - not too bad - but was thinking there might be a good product that might be good to use or method of cleaning that works well?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2. Grease for the pins / holes - the manual I think recommends Triple Guard but I have some Marine Grease - are they same / similar?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3. Easy way to align the hole / pin during re-install - I know the concept sounds easy i.e. align holes, but given that I will be likely bashing that lower pin in and trying to hold / align at same time, was wondering if anyone had a tip / trick to make it easier?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4. When I go to pull the wires back around to the relay side under the rear of the motor, any advice for getting it through / under? The manual doesn't show exactly the route so I am assuming as long as I can poke something through to help pull the wires through, and that they can reach where they previously got to it should be OK?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks to all the advice so far - it's been very appreciated.[/FONT]

I cleaned the pins with wire brush on bench grinder they did slide in very easily. I plugged the wires into the relay plug to test and the replacement unit works great.
I now just need to route them into the engine and around to the relay module plug.
I haven't tried removing the lower cover on the engine - I will look in the manual and see what is involved in that.
Very close to getting this boat back on the water - so very glad.