50 hp Merc yr 2000 shift problems

[Robert L]

I have a 50 hp merc that has always been hard to shift. I disconnected the cables and the cables are free. I tried to shift by the shift lever at the engine and it.s hard. I opened the lower unit and found that it had no spring so, I thought I had the problem, wrong tried to put spring in and then I couldn't get it to move at all. When I bought the spring from dealer it was real long spring. I quess I need to know how long the sping should be and what is the procedure for putting the lower unit back together. Has anyone else had the same problem.