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Water in my trim

rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,242 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited February 2023 in General Boating Discussions
I discovered a crack in my reservoir and the fluid is now a really pretty pink color- so probably not a lot of water but I need to clean it out.

I ordered a new reservoir and I ran the pump and blew it out of the top end. 

I was surprised that with the OD trimed up, when I released the lined I thought the drive would have lowered with no pressure and I can't move it by hand. I read there may be a reverse lock and a lock release valve but I don't see it on my rams. I did not want to remove the lines from the rams but I guess that is next...if that allows me to cycled the rams to blow that crap out I can get some new fluid in it and cycle a few times...should that be good? I can blow air through the lines and clear those out but I'm concerned why I can "release" the rams not being connected to the pump?

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    earl1z19earl1z19 Member Posts: 333 ✭✭✭
    The lines on the trim pump are probably like a typical hydraulic line on a backhoe or other machine. They will have a spring loaded ball on the fitting that  connects to the pump. In order to release the pressure you need to depress the ball, fluid will flow from the line at this point so be prepared

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    Rich_Rich_ Member Posts: 138 ✭✭
    Pink could mean that someone at some point put ATF in there. Are you sure it is water?
    2002 180      Eastern LI, NY
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    aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,810 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Isn’t Mercury/Mercruiser power steering/trim fluid pink?
    2008 330EC
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,242 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Well, good points to ponder....I have always used atf in the trim- I had the rams pulled off when I pulled the motor and reseal the transom. I do not recall noticing anything unusual at that time but then I don't recall what I had for dinner last night. It did not look milky nor was there any like separation going on, just bright pink. Maybe I should just leave well enough alone. When I put my pump back on I can take off the return line on each ram and just move some new fluid through them...see how it goes from there. I've never had any prior leaking issues . I need to pull them off so I can finish cleaning up the drive...
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2023
    Atf is red, if it's pink there is water.  It shouldn't look like Pepto.

    Most likely your seals are leaking on your trim arms aka rams

    Lucky for for you, they are easy to repair and should be plenty of YouTube videos to walk you through repair procedure.  

    The hardest part is getting the cap unscrewed.   There is a special spanner wrench to get the cap off, although I used a more crude way to get them off.  

    It's mostly just some o rings and a few seal washers.



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