I did a search for my issue and have even tried a couple of the items I found, but am still not having any luck fixing my issue. I dropped the lower unit on my '89 Alpha One Gen 1 to replace the water pump impeller and the upper oil seal. I did not put the shifter in forward PRIOR to taking the unit off, so I'm not certain if that's part of the problem. For re-assembly, I put the shifter in forward, WOT, rotated the shifter shaft in the lower unit clockwise to stop, looking from the top of the outdrive, rotated the propeller counter clockwise until it locked, bungee'd it and re-installed the lower unit. The shifter, at this point does not seem to make a difference. I don't get the neutral detent to engage at all, and the boat remains in forward no matter the shifter position. Since I didn't know this was the case, I did start the motor, but immediately shut it back down due to a horrific grinding noise.
One thing of note, there is a shaft coming from the upper unit, that mates with the shifter shaft in the lower unit. It hangs loose and rotates freely. I can find an engagement point for it in the upper if I move it around, but it doesn't stay put while I'm installing the lower, and also doesn't align properly if it is engaged.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
One thing of note, there is a shaft coming from the upper unit, that mates with the shifter shaft in the lower unit. It hangs loose and rotates freely. I can find an engagement point for it in the upper if I move it around, but it doesn't stay put while I'm installing the lower, and also doesn't align properly if it is engaged.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
