Evinrude tilt valve?

My 1996 50/35 jet has a lever on the side of the engine that swings from front to back. It isn't connected to anything. I can lift the engine with my hand to tilt it but I have to put a little kickstand piece down to hold the engine in the tilt position. There is a shock that kinda slows the engine as it drops down. My question is what's missing? It seems like that lever should do something.

PHOTOS help a LOT on these forums whey one is seeking advice.

I believe you are talking about the "touch trim" system. The lever is cable connected to the gas-charged cylinder you see.

The problems are common. The cable fails. The cylinder loses it's gas charge. Sounds like where you are now.

The parts are expensive new. The only choices are buy them, live with the situation, or convert to power trim.

The best option would be to find a parts-motor, with the same system, in good condition. This might not be too hard as the lower units on all these 1989-2005 motors were weak units. They fail all the time. You can tell looking on ebay, the lower units are a million bucks. The power trim units are getting real pricey too. The jet unit on yours makes your engine more worth fixing than most.

I have a brand new 50hp powerhead in the factory box for that engine. If it was a lower unit, I could have sold it a dozen times.

Just to add to Boat2fast's comments below, those gas cylinders can actually get to be problematic. The handle is supposed to lock the cylinder in the up position. Usually the first thing to go is the gas assist. Once the locking feature goes, then you won't be able to move the motor at all. I've read about people who've had that unit lock in the down position, and the only way to remove it is to disassemble the mounting bracket / tilt tube.

I'd look into a used Trim / Tilt unit for your motor, or a CMC unit where you can leave the tilt assist cylinder alone.

Good luck!