Reply To: 2000 Johnson 50hp 2 stroke questions.

[DAN ANDERSON]

Just to add to what Don was saying. Loosening the manual release valve and pulling the unit up and down manually could dislodge any small piece of debris on the face of the valve? Otherwise you will have to pull the valve to see if the face (rubber) has been damaged. There is a rebuild kit:

http://www.marineengine.com/newparts/part_details.php?pnum=OMC0435567

This includes all the parts you might need for any internal problems. O-rings, seals, etc. If you look at the exploded view on MarineEngine.com the unit has poppet valves (6) (hard to make out) on the piston of the cylinder. A small piece of trash under any one of these valves can cause the unit to leak down. They are just balls with spring behind them. Except for one. Keep them In order. These act as impact protection and a blow off of sort to let the motor come up under control if submerged object is hit.
As in any hydraulics cleanliness is critical when dealing when the internals of the unit. You will need a heavy duty spanner to remove the top cap. I can loan you one as I have rebuilt many of these units.
The trim unit will come out of the back of the motor without removal from boat. It’s a matter of trimming the engine up, supporting engine. Unhook top eye of cylinder and then trimming the cylinder back down. After you have the unit out trim it back up. (Minimal loss of fluid if ram is all the way up. Then unhook electrical to move to the bench for disassembly.
It is a detailed disassembly and assembly process so do the simple things first. You may just dislodge a piece of trash and save yourself a lot of work!

Dan in TN