Tilt stop lever doesn't retract

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Sounds like the spring is worn / stretched from what you post. The shaft rotates easily, its not binding.

The spring is the ONLY thing holding the arm up. That posted video shows it all, there should be some tension on that spring at all times...

[boscoe99]

Boscoe you reported that Under no circumstances trailer with OB only supported by these bracket.
Granted that has been the advice since the beginning of time.
Personally I only rely on this pin and the ram when I travel and have never had a problem.
I first had a decent size OB in 1978 (merc 115) and many Yamahas since travelling many many kilometres.
Maybe I am a good driver ( no accidents for 50 years) but not all the roads are smooth over here.
The point is also that the engines are hardly being held up by these two mechanisms being balanced over the transom.
Have I just been careful or lucky?
I tend to frown apon poor skills.

Many, many have towed their boats with the motor held in the UP position using just the device on the motor with no problems whatsoever.

A few have had a problem.

Yamaha is trying to protect the few so that no one ever has a bent or damaged locking device. They simply don't want a disgruntled customer to come to them saying my motor is broke you must fix it. It is not warrantable damage if it happens.

Here is what I do know for a fact. Tilt the motor to the full up position. Grab the lower unit and move it up and down. Feels like lots of slop in the system. The lower unit bouncing around on a bad road can do the damage.

Run the motor down until it sits on the trim pistons. Grab the lower unit and try to move it. It will be locked up as hard as a rock.

[robert graham]

That tilt lock lever looks like about 1/4 inch thick item, maybe not up to a bouncing 300 to 400 lb. outboard without damage....how about a Transom Saver or similar device just to be on the safe side?...

[zenoahphobic]

Ha, with the engine down there is more force pulling it outwards. The same stress direction when the engine is pushing: 200/300kg weight plus 300hp thrust (what kg would that be?)
If a transom is designed to take that sort of a pounding, a relative balanced load downwards must be sparrow poo for it. Remember a beams strength increases by the cube(?) times the width!
The transom savers that I know do little alteration to the forces acting on the transom, still the same with maybe taking the load off those said components.
I suspect those that damage those bits probably also use their engines to deepen channels or trim reefs and complain to the manufacturers that the lower leg is not strong enough, and their prop is not as good as the tynes on farmer Jones' plough.

[zenoahphobic]

Robert Graham a Quarter inch rod can hold 2 tons, that's a lot more kgs than any engine. And if it was thought that that was not enough a small increase in diameter will give you much more (cube?).
The safety here is not like other safety things.
I could easily make a claim that all those seat belts, and putting on all those stack hats have been complete waste of time because I have never had accidents that required them in the past fifty years.
But I won't make that claim because driving is dangerous. A tilt pin bending, or bracket damage is minor and infrequent. I never seen a transom fail because an engine has pulled on it. Rotting compromised transom, yes.