DF90 Trim Tilt Issue

[cjmahm]

I have 2012 DF90 that has developed a problem with the trim/tilt over this summer. I have noticed that it is has been slow to go down, especially the last few inches to being totally down on the transom. You can hear the motor struggling a little bit. Thought it might be air in there, so I have been working on it and have totally flushed out the old fluid, installed new, and have been going through the practice of raising, letting air out, filling, manually letting it down, back up again, filling, resting, etc. Though I had it sorted last night as it was finally working right, but now this morning same issue. Even making a weird sputtering noise now when going up. Really thinking it's not the electrical based off the noises i'm hearing when having come down manually, but who knows. Any help is appreciated.

[cjmahm]

after going through multiple bottles of fluid, i have determined it is air in the reservoir, but for the life of me i can't get all the air out. i go through the motions of raising, filling, capping, lowering, raising, open to let air out (over and over) and it sounds like everything is fine. let it sit an hour and come back, and same problem. really shouldn't be this hard to fill the reservoir and get all the air out. feel like i'm just missing something very minor in doing this the right way. help.

[Murray]

The manual release valve is tight and not leaking air?

[cjmahm]

yes, i tightened after releasing down. even tried letting it down in increments using the trim motor, and then releasing air through the fill.

[noelm007]

You don't need to let the air out, you simply fill the unit, then cycle the trim up and down and it bleeds itself, but, double check the manual release seeing as you have used it, make sure it's locked off (tight)

[catacom225]

why are you using multiple bottles of oil

[cjmahm]

okay thank you all for the input. i have gone through multiple bottles because i basically have no idea how to do this and have been told (and read) a lot various ways. This is the procedure i did last night:

lowered trailer tongue and made sure manual release was tight. raised motor and opened fill plug. used large syringe filled with tilt fluid to inject into reservoir until it start spilling back out. replace plug and used electric motor to lower down, and raise up again. opened plug again and topped off fluid so it was still spilling out and plugged again. then worked motor all the way up and down several times using electric motor. was running smoothly and no problems, will check again later today and see if it's still good.

[cjmahm]

same issue, so i'm guessing something internal is screwy. after it sits a while, it raises okay, but struggles to lower (using motor) as it getting closer and closer to being completely down. raise it up again, and then lower it using the manual release. raise it again, and release manually to lower. then using the motor work fine again for while, almost like it clears something out. i'm lost, so looks like she will be off to the dealer.

[noelm007]

There is no need to fool around with the manual release, leave it alone. Does the motor operate OK at all times (can you hear it?) can you see fluid leaking anywhere?

[cjmahm]

yes you can hear the motor at all times, but no it doesn't operate okay at all times. going down it struggles and almost wanting to stop. the closer it gets to being completely down, the more the motor is struggling. for some strange reason though, if i go all the way up, and then manually release it down, after that the motor runs fine both ways for a while.

[cjmahm]

sorry, and no fluid leaks found.

[artdf175]

you don’t have any issues with the hinge binding up? well greased?

[cjmahm]

yep, hit all the zerk fitting with grease. no bindings noted.