jhild
New Member
- Nov 2, 2006
- 350
- Boat Info
- 1999 BW 18 Ventura /
Sold: 2003 176BR
- Engines
- Current: 135 OptiMax /
Sold: 3.0L Alpha
As I was raising the outdrive to take my boat for her first splash of the season yesterday 
, one of the brass hydraulic-compression nuts which connect the trim hoses to the trim pump failed :smt009 . Trim fluid everywhere. I guess that’s why we have a bilge. By some miracle, my local Merc shop had a replacement in stock. (I’ve never been so happy to spend $8.00 on a nut.) In any event, after bleeding the line a bit, I removed the broken fitting and replaced it with the new one. Everything seemed to be working just fine, so I went boating :grin: . No problems whatsoever, but I came up with a couple questions:
1. Since everything seems to be working, am I in the clear? Other than the obvious, is there anything I should watch for?
2. I added a fair amount of trim fluid to the reservoir, but I couldn’t see a fill line so I’m not sure how much fluid should be in there when the trim is up v. when it’s down. Any helpful hints? (Note: Just because I couldn’t see a fill line doesn’t mean there isn’t one.)
3. In doing some internet research on trim pumps, I came across a couple threads which mention that there’s a red cap inserted into the mouth of the trim fluid reservoir for shipping purposes only, which should be removed upon installation leaving only the reservoir cap. According to their comments, many dealerships do not remove the shipping plug which can cause problems with the pump. (My red cap is still in there.) Is there any truth to the red cap conspiracy? Should I pull the plug?
Thanks in advance for any comments.
, one of the brass hydraulic-compression nuts which connect the trim hoses to the trim pump failed :smt009 . Trim fluid everywhere. I guess that’s why we have a bilge. By some miracle, my local Merc shop had a replacement in stock. (I’ve never been so happy to spend $8.00 on a nut.) In any event, after bleeding the line a bit, I removed the broken fitting and replaced it with the new one. Everything seemed to be working just fine, so I went boating :grin: . No problems whatsoever, but I came up with a couple questions:1. Since everything seems to be working, am I in the clear? Other than the obvious, is there anything I should watch for?
2. I added a fair amount of trim fluid to the reservoir, but I couldn’t see a fill line so I’m not sure how much fluid should be in there when the trim is up v. when it’s down. Any helpful hints? (Note: Just because I couldn’t see a fill line doesn’t mean there isn’t one.)
3. In doing some internet research on trim pumps, I came across a couple threads which mention that there’s a red cap inserted into the mouth of the trim fluid reservoir for shipping purposes only, which should be removed upon installation leaving only the reservoir cap. According to their comments, many dealerships do not remove the shipping plug which can cause problems with the pump. (My red cap is still in there.) Is there any truth to the red cap conspiracy? Should I pull the plug?
Thanks in advance for any comments.
