My hydraulics in my boat arent working!?
by admin on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 | 3 Comments
When it comes to the repair or mechanics of boats I know nothing. I am great with vehicles but marine equipment is so much different. My boat has a hydraulic lift on the motor and the steering of the motor is controlled all by hydraulics. I forgot to lock the motor in position before I left my home. On the way up there I was forced to slam on the breaks, causing the engine to jar and then leak hydraulic fluid all over the place. One person mentioned that is could be something along the lines of a safety plug in the system that pops when the pressure in the lines is too high. I need help and have to haul it over 150 miles in order to get it repaired. Please give me your opinion on what the problem could be. Thank you for all answers!!
I think I would start with the leak. Where abouts is the leak for starters?
If you fix the leak then check your hyd level!
Begin your search at the simplest parts of the system and work back from there.
Sometimes it might be something simple and you could save yourself heartache by not stripping parts for no reason.
Fuses!! I know it sounds stupid but is it getting power?
If yes, look at you pump closer.
Have somebody there to help you determine whether the pump is working or not by listening to it!
If you can narrow your system down the problem will eventually show itself to you.
Time is the biggest factor here. Take your time and methodically go through your system until you find the problem.
I bet you work it out.
Troy.
I am not sure if you are talking about an inboard or outboard system.I will assume that it is outboard.There is a screw on the side of the pump that you can see through a hole in the saddle bracket.This is your manual release valve.If you turn it counter clockwise you will be able to lift the motor up manually.After you lift it you can tighten the screw and see if if holds but I think you have probably blown the seals inside the cylinder.If it will not stay up just use a 2×4 to hold it up enough to get it to the repair shop.Make sure that you tie it in place so it cannot come out when you go over bumps in the road.These types of systems are designed to release if you hit something but they should not leak fluid everywhere.This is why I suspect you have done some major damage.Hope this helps and good luck.
The hyrdaulics on a boat operate similar to how the brakes on a car do. After you find the leaks and determine what you have to do to fix them, you will have to bleed any air out of the lines for the hydraulics to work.