"JTC" wrote in message
...
My 125 Force Tilt/Trim always slowly let the motor down when tilted to the
up position. Although annoying I lived with it for about a year. Last
week
the problem got worse. Now the motor will not tilt up unless I assist it
by
lifting the lower unit while using the trim button to tilt the motor up.
I
have examined the o-ring in the tilt cylinder and it looks fine. I bought
a
replacement O-Ring anyway but it is the wrong size so I have to get
another
one. However, I cant help but suspect the valve body on the pump. Does
anyone know what symptoms would indicate a problem with the valve body
verses the O-Rings in the tilt cylinder? And for those who have replaced
the O-Rings before, do they usually look damaged and mangled or what?

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

The loss of pressure could be caused by any number of things,
but the piston/cylinder seal is probably the most likely cause of the
problem. Other causes could be fluid reserve, value body,
pump impeller, etc.

There isn't any real way to tell if an O ring is bad, but a reasonable
test is how hard it was to get the piston out of the cylinder. If it
produced a reasonable vacuum when it came out, then it most
likely was good. The cylinder seal would show signs of leaking.

Other than that, it is an internal leak in the pump (more O rings),
fluid level or a combination of same.

I would suspect internal leak though because you didn't say
anything about oil leaks.

Later,

Tom