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Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:44 pm
by danhaun
The notorious tilt lock issues on the 9.9 yamaha continued to bother me and I finally fashioned a long attachment to 'mule' the lock lever into position. This worked for a year until the short plastic (delrin?) lever snapped on the port engine. I pulled the engine and of course the tilt tube was fused to the side brackets so I found a used one on eBay and ordered new bushings and a new lever. The old one would come out so I planned to cut it out. So first I made a couple of cuts thru the delrin lever along the axis of the tilt tube. Once I made one cut through, the lever started working easily. what?? It was still snapped to a nub so I went ahead and cut it out and then cut the old tilt tube (perpendicular) with an angle grinder. I 'persuaded' the parts apart and then applied heat and some tapping with a 2 lb. maul to get the old tube out of the aluminum castings. Putting is all back was very easy and the new lever from Yamaha was obviously redesigned to address the problem. The new one is larger in diameter so there is some play between it and the tilt tube. It is also made of a different plastic, is more rigid and it now as a port for lubrication.

With the port side fixed I contorted myself and using a mirror, cut a slit in the lever on the starboard engine along the axis on the tilt tube. One tap with a screwdriver and presto, the level worked back and forth easily.

My analysis for what it is worth? The original tilt lever is delrin or other synthetic that swells on prolonged water exposure. When it swells it squeezes down on the tilt tube (which also acquires rust over time) and this progresses until the the lever will not budge. By cutting the lever the squeeze is relieved and the lever works again like new.

I hope that the post helps someone. I think that the cut lever will continue to work well in that state but time will tell.

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:06 am
by Lady of the Lake
Everyone with outboards on their PDQ will appreciate more info on this fix! Can you post photos of the mod and where it was made and also the year of your engines?

Thanks,
Sam

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:16 pm
by danhaun
My motors are 2007 vintage.

I did not take photos but can provide a sketch up.
tiltTube.pdf
(22.71 KiB) Downloaded 718 times
I used a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel but a sharp utility knife might work better. I worked back and forth to cut through to the metal of the tilt tube. Once broken free, the lever worked like new with just a little finger pressure.

I hope that this helps others with this problem.

Dan Haun
s/v TomKat

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:32 am
by danhaun
Followup: I tried cutting the old broken tilt lever with a utility knife and it was very tough going. The Dremmel cuts it like butter but you will probably break a few wheels.

Dan

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:05 am
by Lady of the Lake
Thanks! What year are your motors?

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:15 am
by danhaun
both are 2007

Re: Fix for stuck tilt lock mechanism

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:11 am
by Lady of the Lake
So, I have 2013 motors and both tilt locks are frozen...I cannot find any tilt grease fittings on this motor like we had on the older motors. If anyone knows where they are, please enlighten me :-)

Going forward, I think it is time to design something that will release the tilt bar to lower the motors and then a strap or block to hold them in place during motoring. I have seen some strap designs, I was thinking about a block of wood that could be lowered into place when the motor was down to keep it from popping up in reverse. Anyone know have experience with this tilt mechanism and want to crowd source a fix for this ridiculous design that continues to have issues year after year?

Thanks,
Sam