Some Boat Repairs Needed

[BassKnuckles]

So I have had my boat for about a year now and need some repairs done.

1. 200HP Yamaha Outboard.

Since I can recall it has always had a little clicking noise when it trimmed up. If I have it trimmed all the way up you can actually see it drop down and make the clicking sound. I thought it might be just low on hydraulic fluid so I opened the cap and added more then I primed it and repeated as multiple times. IMO this is not the easiest thing to do since the motor is at an angle and it's hard to fill and make sure it is full, besides making it overflow. Anyways in the past I could put it to the max and it would stay there for along time before it would start to slowly drop. Since adding the hydraulic fluid it doesn't hold and seems to drop faster. And the sound that the trim pistons make is terrible at certain times. I've determined that it's the tilt piston that is the issue or the seals. I would like to try replacing the seals since that would be the cheaper option to start with. Any thoughts on how to do this or input on anything about the issue I'm having? I still have been taking the boat out because I'm not ready to stop fishing yet but could I be damaging something?

2. Gas Gage

So my gas gauge kind of works. When you toggle between both tanks the gauge does move but I had a full tanks in it and it never changed. the wiring on this boat seems a mess and how the heck am I supposed to get at the gas tanks? They are tucked way underneath the back of the boat? should I just run new wiring to the tanks so I know what wires they are? What should I be looking for to fix this?

3. Navigation Lights

They don't work. I still have to actually try them out on friends boat to make sure they are not the bulbs. But the bulbs look fine visually. Is this something else that I should just run new wires since its a mess?

If you read this far it's a 1996 Skeeter. Thanks for any info.

[JohnMickish]

If you are going to do the work yourself, get to Fleet Farm or maybe even Walmart and get a outboard/boat repair manual. You can probably find the info on the internet as well.

You can check your gas gage by grounding out the sending unit. When you ground each unit out the gage should read full. If it dosen't do that, then something is wrong with the gage/wiring. You can test the gage by putting an ohm meter on the gage and reading what kind of resistance you have for each sending unit too. Zero ohms (grounded out) should read a full tank.

Hope that helps some.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

if no navigation lights then i would guess its either in your wiring or switch. Not knowing how your boat is laid out, running new wire could be an inexpensive option to try. That would be if you tested your lights on another boat and found that yours work.