1989 omc cobra gear case problem

[Jacobnya]

Hi, i just got a 1989 bayliner with a 2.3 ford and a omc cobra tko outdrive. second trip out the forward gear and pinion gear broke some teeth off so i bought all the parts needed to rebuild it and dropped it off at the only omc dealer in town (yuma az).
the mechanic started putting the gear case together but has run into a problem with the pinion bearing housing he says that when he tried to tighten the bolts to the gear case the propeller shaft binds up and wont turn. he set the pinion bearing depth and has the forward and reverse gear set to the manufactures specs but when he tries to put the pinion bearing housing on it seems like the drive shaft is too high causing the housing to hit the thrust washer and thats with no shims so its really tight fight and when he bolts it down the propeller shaft wont turn. does anyone have any clue as to why this is happening? any omc mechanics out there that can help with this? any ideas or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
thank you

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Is the propeller shaft too high or the pinion shaft too low?
Is the pinion gear positioned correctly on the pinion shaft? Ie: not being drawn high enough when the nut is tightened.

 

[Jacobnya]

Is the propeller shaft too high or the pinion shaft too low?
Is the pinion gear positioned correctly on the pinion shaft? Ie: not being drawn high enough when the nut is tightened.

what he is telling me is when he put the pinion bearing housing on he cant tighten the bolts cause it prevents the propeller shaft not to turn. i guess like if the pinion gear or pinion bearing is sitting too high. he said he put everything to spec with the special tools and its just not working. he showed me what was happening i saw that when he tightened the bolts to the housing i couldnt turn the propeller shaft. he says its not supposed to be that tight and that you should be able to turn the propeller shaft when everything is assembled.

 

[Jacobnya]

Is the propeller shaft too high or the pinion shaft too low?
Is the pinion gear positioned correctly on the pinion shaft? Ie: not being drawn high enough when the nut is tightened.

not sure about the nut being tightened or not but ill definitely ask about that

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Hi, i just got a 1989 bayliner with a 2.3 ford and a omc cobra tko outdrive. second trip out the forward gear and pinion gear broke some teeth off so i bought all the parts needed to rebuild it and dropped it off at the only omc dealer in town (yuma az).
the mechanic started putting the gear case together but has run into a problem with the pinion bearing housing he says that when he tried to tighten the bolts to the gear case the propeller shaft binds up and wont turn. he set the pinion bearing depth and has the forward and reverse gear set to the manufactures specs but when he tries to put the pinion bearing housing on it seems like the drive shaft is too high causing the housing to hit the thrust washer and thats with no shims so its really tight fight and when he bolts it down the propeller shaft wont turn. does anyone have any clue as to why this is happening? any omc mechanics out there that can help with this? any ideas or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
thank you

Besides the gears what else did you replace? Do you know what caused the failure?
My thinking is could there be damage to the gearcase or a difference in another part where additional shims may be required. #51 are shims, there are different thicknesses of shims available.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

The pinion gear is drawn up the splined tapered shaft, if it's not tight enough it could possibly cause your issue.