Just got the readily available parts to fix the tilt cylinder. Unlike the trim cylinder caps which come as a complete unit or separately if you want to replace seals yourself and use your old cap, the tilt cylinder caps come in separate parts. However, there are aftermarket caps that come complete. Also, why I don't know, the Yamaha tilt cylinder cap does not come painted. With the proper tool, the cap comes off fairly easy with a 1/2" breaker bar. There are ways to get the cap off if it's stuck (a little heat or an air chisel or a hammer and blunt chisel) but fortunately, mine came apart easily after 16 years. You don't have to take off the stainless hydraulic line to the tilt cylinder. If you feel it is necessary, use a 10mm flare tool wrench or you could round the stainless flare nuts. A little effort and it will come apart without removing the line. Once out, you have to take the lower piston apart to slide it off. There is a 30 mm torx bolt that needs to be taken out of the bottom of the piston. If you refer to my photo, you can see the bolt in the lower cap. Be very careful taking this piston apart. Inside the piston are four springs with inserts and four small BB size balls. Don't lose them. With the piston lower bolt out those parts and those parts removed and you need another tool to get the rest of the piston off the shaft. I bought that tool for $64 and it fits into the four holes on the bottom of the piston. Mine was snug so I put it into a vise and it came apart easily with another 1/2" breaker bar. Once unscrewed, you can then slide the lower piston off, the spring cap and the spring. Next remove the bad upper cap, it just slides off. I chose to rebuild the upper cap with a set of o-rings, seal and split nylon ring. Unfortunately, that doesn't work all the time and after inspecting the cap, it had too much corrosion to reuse so I bought a new one. Very important on how you reassemble the upper cap. From the top down, first place the o-ring in the lower groove inside the cap. Next, compress the split nylon seal and put it on top of the inner o-ring you just put in. Finally, insert the upper seal in the outer groove and make sure it is seated all the way. I used a socket and a hammer to set it. This might sound like a complicated job, it is not. The two trim cylinder are much easier. They only need to have the caps removed and the new ones slid on. Of course, you must bleed the system after replacing any of the caps. The special tools make it fairly easy. If you need to do one, contact me and you can borrow the tools used to take the caps off and the the lower piston apart. I live in West Islip.
Looking inside, you can see the lower o-ring with the white split washer above it and the outer seal by itself in the outer groove. Make sure the lip on the upper seal is facing up.
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