Tilt & Trim '02 Yamaha Vmax 225 issue – maybe?

Last year I noticed my tilt and trim didn’t seem to allow me to trim the motor up as far when I was under power. I could trim it part way up at WOT but it just wouldn’t go quite high enough to get to top speed. In the past I could trim up enough that I would actually start losing speed because it was throwing more rooster tail that digging in.

Other than that everything works normally. The motor trims up and down while off, at idle and low speeds, it stays up when trimmed up and doesn’t sag. Under power as I said it trims up and just stops, it doesn’t sag back down. When I come off plane I need to trim it back down to get the motor in the right position for a dead stop take off.

I am not overly concerned about the few MPH top end I’m not getting to, with gas prices the way they were the last few years I didn’t run WOT very often anyway, I am just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and what the fix was and if it will get worse or maybe it just is what it is.

Is it not trimming up, or is it coming up and then sinking back down?

Have you done a dry-land test?

I believe Yamaha’s have a trim release valve so you can manually lower the outboard. Do you know where that is and is it all the way closed?

Grouse

Hi Grouse!

The only issue I am having is at wide open throttle or close to wide open.
When I am trimming it up to maximize performance it trims up to a certain point and just won’t go any higher. It’s like the trim motor doesn’t have enough ooomph to lift the motor against the forward pressure created by the prop, it goes part way up but just won’t go past a certain point while at wide open throttle….so maybe I just answered my own question. Is that a possible precursor to the trim motor going out completely?

At slow speeds or when the motor is off it will trim fully up and fully down no problem, if I trim it up and leave it over night it won’t sag at all so it seems like the hydraulics are good.

Yes, you probably answered your own question then. Pump motor would be my #1 suspect if it isn’t dropping back down. I know that Yammie trim release screw has had one other forum member thinking his trim was bad. Turned out the release screw was open about an 8th of a turn. Just enough to let it slowly leak down.

You could do a little Generic Mechanic pump motor test in the driveway or garage. Put some of your body weight on the outboard shaft at the bend just above the anti cavitation plate and have someone try to run the trim up. See if you can replicate the problem.

Since you don’t mention any kind of leaks, I’m thinking the trim motor is the place to focus. Now would probably be a great time to get it into the shop if you have to go that route. The spring CrazyTime will be starting soon now that the snow’s melting.

Grouse

Have you checked the fluid level?