tilt/trim not working

hello, i have a 1984 lund mr pike, it has a 60hp evinrude 2 cycle motor. i just picked this boat up 2 days ago for 1250, motor cracks but haven't started it yet. (which im buying the suction thing to start it) well when i picked it up the trim/tilt wasn't working. got it home and then all the sudden you could hear like its working but wasn't going down or up.. than today its not working at all. i checked for fluid in the trim motor by unscrewing the plug and it has no fluid in it. my question is what exactly is goign on here. i know i need to add fluid. (not sure what kind or type so if you could tell me that, it would helpful) is there a bad relay? is the motor out? do i just need to add fluid? i have two new interstate deep cycle battery's in there as well...

where did the fulid go??
you can use AFT auto trans fluid to fill the sump
but you need to find the leak

this is a hydraulic system the fluid is what raises the piston you will need to bleed the system to get any air out of the lines
if the seal is bad you need to replace it
you can find replacement tilt and trim units on line

only leak i see is the right hydronic lift is stuck and i can see oil or fluid on the top of that. i disconnected both side off the motor and left side moves up and down freely but right side is stuck

i don't hear a click or humming or anything from the motor when i try and higher or lower the motor..

The switch could be bad or the electrical could be bad but I would look for a blown fuse somewhere in the system. If the hydraulics are seized it might need replacing. Leaking isn't as bad as seized. I was able to get the hydraulic rams fixed on one of my old Camaro convertibles but I'm not sure about the boat trim.

Could be bad seals causing it to leak all the fluid out. As for the trim motor not working it could be the brushes, switch solenoid, bad switch, bad contacts, lose or burnt wires etc... Try checking the electrical connections going to the trim unit. It probably has bad brushes and seals combined with maybe a bad solenoid. I'm not an expert on this but these things might be worth checking on.

thank you all for your replies, im not sure even to go about how to check these things. (well i kinda am but im not at the same time) i do heating and cooling for a living and know electrical very well, but on the ac side not dc. im kinda to the point to where i don't want to do all the work of tracking down the problem on a unit that is very old. im to the point i just want to replace the motor and both lift afters and even the wiring if be. but my only question is where do i even go about buying them at? i can't find anything and im not sure if i can use just any tilt trim motor and arms or what? also i put the boat in the lake yesterday to check everything else out. (i just unbolted the trim arms going to the motor. well i found out that the steering is completely locked up and a fellow fishman had advised me i most likely have to replace the steering cable. is this true or is there there something else going on?

trouble shooting is troubleshooting aC OR DC DOESNT MATTER start at battery check voltage then check all connections between battery and trim unit. once you find where the voltage stops that would be the first thing to bypass or replace then move on
you can find rebuilt units for most motors on ebay it just a matter of finding what you want then paying for it
if you don't want to troubles shoot I would suggest that route otherwise your wasting money buy just throwing parts at it without knowing the problem

well i wasn't expecting the prices i have seen when i thought "hell i just replace it lol" now im going to start to trouble shoot where the issues is at... from all that i have read, the most likely places to start are either a/ the controller that i push to lower and high it. B/ the relays, which i think i know where they are at on the motor and from my understanding i should be able to get them from napa. (could be wrong just what i read). or C/ the solenoid. or combination of 1 or 2 of these. am i on the right track?

i just ordered TeleFlex OEM Rack & Pinion Boat Steering System as mine is froozen, this is the very last thing (tilt/trim) that i need to fix before she is ready for the water.

you need to start at a known power source

Add fluid.
The reason one piston goes up and not the other is that is has fluid pressure under it and the other one doesn't. That is nothing to worry about. They will both work when you fill the system
There is no "Bleeding" of the system. The system has to be filled with trim fluid when the engine is all the way trimmed up...period.
Then cycle the system several times and let it sit. Self bleeding.
You probably have a leak around one of the pistons. There are seal kits for this. You will need a spanner wrench to loosen the cap. No punch and hammer!!
You have mentioned several times that you have heard the motor running so apparently you do not need anything mentioned several times above this post.
Keep it simple and lets go from there.

Agree /\
you need to fill the tank and run it as stated above.
After that see if it will cycle as normal. If not you may have a bad relay.

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=348708#p348708 said:

Pappy » Mon Apr 14, 2014 7:26 pm[/url]"]Add fluid.
The reason one piston goes up and not the other is that is has fluid pressure under it and the other one doesn't. That is nothing to worry about. They will both work when you fill the system
There is no "Bleeding" of the system. The system has to be filled with trim fluid when the engine is all the way trimmed up...period.
Then cycle the system several times and let it sit. Self bleeding.
You probably have a leak around one of the pistons. There are seal kits for this. You will need a spanner wrench to loosen the cap. No punch and hammer!!
You have mentioned several times that you have heard the motor running so apparently you do not need anything mentioned several times above this post.
Keep it simple and lets go from there.

Click to expand...

I guess I read a different thread he said he doesn't here the motor running at all? cycling is the bleeding I was talking about just worded it wrong