Trim and Steering issues on our 19' Lancer

[jasonvines]

Last weekend be bought our first CC, a 76 Lancer 19'. We spent the weekend in the driveway cleaning her and getting ready to splash. The outdrive trim worked great in the driveway, up and down no problem. Once we put in on Monday the trim stayed stuck in the down position, and at some point the bolt that locks the steering housing into the top of the outdrive came out of the hole and I lost all steering.
This is my first sterndrive engine so working with the trim is something new to me. I see the trim motor but don't see a place for fluid to go in, as that was my first thought on the problem. The motor runs when you trim in either direction and when you start up it will move maybe a 1/4 of an inch but that's it. I need to get trim up first to try and get the bolt back on so I can steer to the boat ramp.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jason

[jasonvines]

Okay with the help from my boys I was able to get the bolt back into the top of the upper unit. Any ideas on where to start with the trim? The motor is there but I don't see any solenoids like other sites have mentioned. The connections all seem good so should I replace the motor? Like I said with no place to put fluid I am at a loss as where to start.

[Ollon]

First, That is the wrong bolt. It should be an Allen type recessed bolt that sits flush. The steering cowling it goes into must be stripped or damaged in some way and the bolt will probably keep coming out. The lift is mechanical not hydraulic. It appears someone removed all the relays and limit switches and wired the lift motor direct. This can work but you have to make sure you don't over extend the jack screw in either direction. It is evident by the cracked top of the housing cover that this has happened in the outdrive down position. The extra amout the outdrive dropped when the steering bolt came out could have caused this as well. There is a clutch mechanism in the lift assembly that can wear out or be poorly adjusted. This would explain why it starts to turn but won't lift the weight of the outdrive. There is probably nothing wrong with the lift motor itself. You need to figure out which drive you have. They are all Volvo drives. You probably have a 250 or 270. Try to find out and get the correct SELOC manual.
A good resource for parts and information is Outdrive Exchange in Costa Mesa CA. 949 548-2044 Nice looking Lancer. Good luck.

[jasonvines]

Yeah someone definitely rigged it enough to get it to hold. Now just trying to figure out how to make that work.



How's the best way to figure out which outdrive I have? I don't see any ID on it and found nothing online as how to ID it.

Thanks for your help!

[Ollon]

If you take it by a Volvo service place they can tell you right away just by looking at it. They will have the correct bolt also. The one in the picture looks like it's brass with worn threads. A new correct bolt might be all you need. The lift is another story.

[jasonvines]

Thanks Ollon!!! I think I have a 280B, but will be taking it in this week. Looks like all the threads are stripped out so it will have to be retapped most likely. That isn't the original bolt for sure. They added that brass housing to run the bolt through to try and use the brass to screw into the upper fold down area to use the smaller bolt to turn. Pretty shotty job but we stole this boat so I knew there were some things we needed to fix the right way.

[Ollon]

If you have the 280 it should have the wide flat exhaust that is built into the trim fin. There should be an ID tag attached to the top of the outdrive upper unit just in front of the cap, right in front of where the bolt came out. It will have the model and serial# on it. I took a closer look at the pictures you posted and I think its there but covered with paint.