Tilt problem

I have an Esox with a 40 merc, console. Took the tarp off today to get it ready. I hit the motor tilt switch and it came up and then on it’s own powered it self down. It did this several times, sometimes raising or lowering on it’s own occasionally with a delay of a minute or two. I disconnected the batteries and did my regular maintenance hooked the batteries up and the same problem. Anyone had this experience? I’m thinking the switch on my forward, reverse arm. Thanks for any help!

Sean, I had a 90 merc and the switch went out. Just didn’t go up. (not your problem)

A couple years ago I could tilt it up and it would slowly drop or under power it would drop to the lowest position.

Turned out that the power trim assembly needed to be replaced. Apparently there’s an orifice that gets enlarged over time and the only option is to replace the whole assembly.

All repair people (for Merc) I spoke with said not to rebuild it because they seldom work after rebuilding. One fella did a lot of rebuilds… there is no way of knowing it rebuilding will work or not until you have the bill in your hand.

I ended up buying the assembly from West End Marine in Red Wing and replaced it myself with the help of Trumar.

The one thing you should check is if it has enough hydraulic fluid and if you see it leaking under the unit. If you find oil running down the transom, it will need to be replaced.