I had a similar problem with my 81' h16. I found out that my cams were worn and cracked so I replaced them with new ones. It still wasen't working as well as it should have so I disasembled the cam lock and spring. Then I cleaned everything very well and reassembled the unit applying a little white lithium grease to all of the moving parts. Also I readjusted the kick up tension (17 to 22 pounds). Now everything works great. Happy sailing.