Mercury 115 Swivel Pin / Lower Yoke Retaining Clip let go

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
seamuspg
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:57 pm

Mercury 115 Swivel Pin / Lower Yoke Retaining Clip let go

Postby seamuspg » Thu May 06, 2021 12:07 am

I have '02 Mercury 2 Stroke 115 ELPTO on the back of my Dauntless 160.

I recently noticed some play in the lower yoke (up and down) and noticed a retaining clip had fallen down. After looking at a manual, my guess is the bead in which it snapped into had corroded away, no longer giving it an edge to hold. I've had different opinions from a few different mechanics...

1) drive it as is. "Ive never seen them let go, but you didnt hear it from me"... But wouldnt the excess "play" allow damaging vibration?
2) Replace the swivel pin, lower yoke...plus Labor = $1500
3) is there some other creative way to fix the problem ? Its a 20-year-old engine, but it runs great, great compression, etc... would love to get another 3-5 years out of it.

Any thoughts are appreciated,


Thanks