I replaced my Bravo drive trim pump assembly early last season with a new stainless bracket unit from Hardin Marine and it worked fine all last summer. This past weekend I trimmed the outdrive all the way up to park at a marina at low tide and when I went to leave it would not go back down. The motor spins fine in either direction so it's not an electrical problem. It actually sounded like it was freewheeling. To get out of there I had to undo one of the hydraulic lines at the pump and let the drive drop just a little. It worked fine after that for a while but by the end of the day the drive wouldn't trim up or down at all and was stuck near the bottom. I ended up having to disconnect both lines at the pump and trailer home with the rope of shame around the outdrive and bilge full of oil.

Looking into the reservoir when the trim motor is running I can see the fluid boiling around kind of violently but the outdrive doesn't move in either direction. I think this might indicate one or more of the pressure relief valves is stuck open. With the lines disconnected it pumps out no fluid. Is anyone familier with these pumps and can give me any hints on isolating the problem? How could this pump fail so soon? I had a new transom unit put on just a few years ago so my trim cylinders and hydraulic lines are like new. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

My original pump was trouble free for 25 years.

Just wanted to mention Hardin. I discovered my problem was one of the trim pump pressure relief valves had fallen off and was laying in the reservoir. I returned it to Hardin and they put a new valve on it, tested it and adjusted it even though it's technically out of warranty and shipped it back. They're stand-up guys on their products IMO and have been easy to work with on problems.