Tilt and Trim motor life expectancy

[scalesr1]

Hello all,

Our dive club has a 6m Rib with 2 x 40HP 4 stroke Suzukis which we have had for about 7 years. The boat lives mostly on it's trailer and during the summer months (and depending on the weather) it is launched on a Friday, used once on Saturday and Once on Sunday - max engine time 1.5 to 2hrs each weekend.

During our time with these engines we have had numerous Tilt and Trim unit failures - they will become slow to respond and eventually not respond at all.

Can anyone advise whether this is 'expected behaviour' and whether or not there is anything we can to do mitigate against this as they are an expensive part to replace?

I am waiting for more details of exactly how many we have got through but we just had to replace another one after last weekend £££££££££££££££££!

I would like to add that when not in use, both engines are fully raised and it is launched/recovered very carefully - nothing has ever suffered any knocks/bangs. We are a small club (12 diving members) and we like to take great care of everything we own.

- Richard

[Moonlighter]

When not being used, I always store my engine 90% down, eg nearly but not quite vertical. After use in salt water, the engine is washed externally with a good amount of fresh water, with attention paid to the TnT areas to flush salty residue from around there, and occasionally, a light spray of lube on the trim and steering rods.

I”m fairly sure that this is the recommended position to store them in. You might check your owners manual to see what it says re that.

We dont see many trim n tilt issues reported on this forum.

Your circumstances of multiple failures may suggest an issue of how they are used, stored or maintained?

Most of the manufacturers, Suzuki included, use TNT components sourced from common suppliers.

[scalesr1]

Thank you for that - we certainly do store with them 'up' if we ever leave the boat moored for a week or two, possibly also when stored on dry land - we always flush each engine for around 5 mins whilst running and clean down with a generous amount of fresh water.
Is there any advantage (or even any possibility) of purchasing replacement parts direct from manufacturers?

[redlowrey]

Put a list up of all the trim problems and what it cost, something is not adding up, you would not have a major failure every time the trim didn't work. There would be more electrical problems than hydraulic one would think

[scalesr1]

I shall report back with more detail once known.

[Murray]

When moored I leave my engine tilted up out of the water(fresh) with the tilt lock engaged. My thought process is the weight of the engine is on the tilt lock mechanism not the hydraulics. With the engine tilted up I use a screwdriver to manually lower the engine with the bleed screw until the engine comes to rest on the tilt lock, tighten the screw up and you’re ready for the next time.