before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

[chucks440]

Ok...after the 1000th attempt to slide my lower unit back in place,I,m just about pooped! Replaced the impeller in the Alpha 1, everythings back together and trying to slide the lower unit back in place with no luck! I,ve done this before and I know it takes a few tries to get everything lined up..but damned if I can get it! I got it up high enough that I could put the nuts on the studs,but I could tell that drawing it up was giving me too much resistance so I dropped it back down.The best I can do is get it up high enough that I can see the tops of the studs,but thats it!! Am I missing something here?? I,ve been slowly turning the driveshaft clockwise assuming its the splines,but maybe something else?

 

[90stingray]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Have a c clamp handy to hold it for you while you look everything over. I am guessing the shifter paw is just a hair off. And needs moved by hand a little. Never draw it up with the nuts... you will break something !

 

[CobiaXL]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Keep in mind Ive never wrenched on mercruiser outdrive YET.But from what Ive read,lower needs to be in forward gear,and I didnt see anything about it being in forward gear.Was or is lower unit in forward gear?

 

[chucks440]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

sorry about that...yes its in forward gear. If I recall,the last time I did this,I got it too the point that I could mount the nuts and then everything just slid together,thats why I was slowly trying to draw it up but I could tell something was holding it and dropped it back down.If I get it up that far is it safe to say the splines are meshed and maybe the shift pawl or water tube are off? the manual says to align everything and install,but you cant see inside once you start putting it together.

 

[chucks440]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

bmp

 

[rickryder]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Did you use the alignment tool to make sure everything is good??

 

[CobiaXL]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

sorry about that...yes its in forward gear. If I recall,the last time I did this,I got it too the point that I could mount the nuts and then everything just slid together,thats why I was slowly trying to draw it up but I could tell something was holding it and dropped it back down.If I get it up that far is it safe to say the splines are meshed and maybe the shift pawl or water tube are off? the manual says to align everything and install,but you cant see inside once you start putting it together.

Ok,was just a thought...I'll be watching and keeping notes...Good luck!

 

[ziggy]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

yer not gonna like my idea cause it involves more work. but....

take the upper off and then reassemble the upper to lower on the bench. it's about a 1000 times easier. you'll likely mate them 1st or second try, by yourself on the bench.. i've done it both ways and at this point, i'm not ever gonna take just the lower off knowing how miserable it is to reinstall while the upper is still on the boat.

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

yer not gonna like my idea cause it involves more work. but....

take the upper off and then reassemble the upper to lower on the bench. it's about a 1000 times easier. you'll likely mate them 1st or second try, by yourself on the bench.. i've done it both ways and at this point, i'm not ever gonna take just the lower off knowing how miserable it is to reinstall while the upper is still on the boat.

I may be wrong.....but it sounds like the upper and lower are together....he can't get the entire drive re-installed the way I read it....???

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Ok...after the 1000th attempt to slide my lower unit back in place,I,m just about pooped! Replaced the impeller in the Alpha 1, everythings back together and trying to slide the lower unit back in place with no luck! I,ve done this before and I know it takes a few tries to get everything lined up..but damned if I can get it! I got it up high enough that I could put the nuts on the studs,but I could tell that drawing it up was giving me too much resistance so I dropped it back down.The best I can do is get it up high enough that I can see the tops of the studs,but thats it!! Am I missing something here?? I,ve been slowly turning the driveshaft clockwise assuming its the splines,but maybe something else?

The lower is half of the outdrive. You also have the upper half. Which when bolted together complete the outdrive.

Correct terminology will help us assist with the problem.

Try to have someone very slowly turn the engine by hand while attempting to install the outdrive and see if that help align the splines.

Also when you did reinstall both halves, you have to have both in forward as they are mated so you won't have any issues shifting, and also have the outdrive and the boat's shifter in forward during it's installation as well.
Good Luck.

 

[chucks440]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Hey guys...thanks,maybe a step back will help. Just replaced the impeller,which I,ve done twice before by dropping the lower half ot the outdrive,then replacing impeller and then bolting lower back to the upper. Boat is in forward gear , lower is in forward,and it appears that the shifter pawl is good,just trying to line up the splines and the water tube to get everything to slide back together,but am having one hell of a time! I can get the studs from the lower up far enough to thread the nuts on,but thats as far as it goes with serious force which Im not going to do. Like I said,I,ve done the impeller twice before and each time it took a little prodding but within a few minutes I had it all back together. This time...I,m not sure why,but it wont go! The upper part of the outdrive..I,ve never removed and dont want to unless its a last resort.

 

[chucks440]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

bmp

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

If you have never removed the upper half [ The DRIVE SHAFT housing] of the drive from the bell housing, you really should,[the lower half is the GEAR CASE housing] Its not hard , unless everything is totally rusted together. It should come off annually any how for inspection /maintenance. Take the 2 nuts that hold hydraulic rams on, and the 6 nuts that hold the drive on and it comes straight back SHIFTER IN FWD. Then you can check/lube your u-joints, check bellows for water intrusion, lube/inspect shift shaft, engine alignment etc. A new bell housing gasket and o-ring for the water supply seal will cost ya less then $10.00. And as ZIGGY stated, its much easier manually LOWER the upper half on to the bottom half then LIFT the lower half to the upper. As when both are off the boat. Remember the QUAD ring!

 

[dingdongs]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

make sure the o-ring hasn't covered the hole where the splined shaft locates in upper.try turning the prop slightly as trying to move two halves together.sometimes a second person is a godsend.

 

[jgboake]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Only as encouragement, I can tell you I fought with the same issue for hours...and being the only person doing it, I was beat. Then I had a friend over, I had it where you do, he gave it a wiggle and a shake and the darn thing slid right on. I was a might upset but glad it was on done none the less. Good Luck!

 

[Samjo]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

I fought this same battle a few weeks back.

After messing with it for what seemed like a couple of hours, I went back in the house for a while...then when I went back to it later that afternoon...It slid into place on the very first try.

I think what I was doing wrong, was lifting too much from the rear of the drive, kinda lifting from the skeg area. I believe this was throwing things out of alignment. When it fell into place, I was not only lifting there, but put more emphasis on lifting from the front of the foot, as well.

Maybe it was just walking away for a while that did it, I don't know.

 

[chucks440]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Thanks guys...sorry to hear that you,ve run into the same issue,but its nice to know I,m not the first one to run into this! I,ve gathered up all the tools I tossed and apologized to the neighbors for the language and I,ll give it another try tomorrow! lol.... I understand about just taking off the upper 1/2 and doing it that way and it may come to that..I,m just hard headed I guess... Thanks again!

 

[snowzach]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

I did the same thing and had the same problem.. Kept fiddling with the gear selector for what seemed like forever.. I toyed with the idea of using the nuts to draw it up but thought that was a bad idea in the end.. When it lines up, you'll know.. It snaps right into place without any resistance...

 

[CobiaXL]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Don't throw in the towel...Its way to early.Trust me.Persistent pays off in the end.Now saying that,sounds like you need a break...Retry when fresh.

 

[90stingray]

Re: before I throw in the towel...any ideas what I,m doing wrong???!!

Thanks guys...sorry to hear that you,ve run into the same issue,but its nice to know I,m not the first one to run into this! I,ve gathered up all the tools I tossed and apologized to the neighbors for the language and I,ll give it another try tomorrow! lol.... I understand about just taking off the upper 1/2 and doing it that way and it may come to that..I,m just hard headed I guess... Thanks again!

I sometimes just pull the lower when doing an impeller. It is a little more difficult but you don't have to buy the bellhousing gasket set. If I would wait until winterization to change impeller then I would for sure pull entire drive... cause she's coming off anyways. Goodluck!