New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
10
Removed lower unit with shifter box in forward and lower unit in forward. Put back together and was stuck in forward. Removed lower unit again, with shifter box in neutral and put lower unit in neutral and put back together. Now no forward and no reverse. Took off cowling to see if I could push in gear by hand with no results, still just neutral. Any Suggestions? I have a 2007 Optimax 200.
 

nbnewbie

Seaman
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
74
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

only thing that comes to mind is that the shift linkage that runs through the mid-section of the outboard is not lined up with the knurled shift rod in the lu i'm not sure there's enough space to miss it completely if just misaligned i'm not sure you could bolt the lu up in place without something giving (breaking or bending) from my experience (very limited as it is) if not in neutral next best option is reverse when removing and reinstalling the lu
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
10
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

I had it apart 3x. The last 2x I put blue grease on the coupling that joins the 2 shafts together and the blue grease was on the splines of both shafts,so I would think that they are ligned up.The bottom of the coupling is 3x wider than top. Iput top on first so I don'see how it could miss. THANKS
 

joed

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 28, 2002
Messages
1,135
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

Are you simply pushing the shift lever or is the motor running or are your turning the fly wheel by hand?
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
10
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

When the motor was stuck in forward it evidently could not start. So at that time I was just using the lever that would not move out of gear. When I put it back together in neutral the motor was running but the shifter would move to forward and reverse but it would not engage. Pushing the shift lever by hand, with engine running still would not engage into forward or reverse it still stayed in neutral even though the engine linkage was moving.
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
10
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

Thanks, that does seem to be the problem I'm having. There's only about 3/4 of an inch to deal with, I'm still having trouble lining it up. The shifter rod is not bent, just went higher up inside the motor, which left no hook-up. Thanks.
 
Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
10
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

I finally got it right! Thanks for all the help. Mr. NBNEWBIE,if it wasn't for you, I would still be out working on it THANK YOU!!!!
 

Nickledimed

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
87
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

For future lower unit stabbers, here is a little trick I picked up from this forum and a little inginuity on my part.
When stabbing the lower unit I used a ratchet strap to hold the lower unit up and also to slowly slip the lower unit back in place.
All lower units should be in neutral and shifter should be in neutral.
The way you can tell if your lower unit is in neutral is that you can turn the prop or prop shaft and the Long shaft does not turn.
Now slowly wratchet the strap until the main LU shaft engages the cam splines, put a little pressure on it, not a whole lot, then rotate the fly wheel, youll here a little pop and the splines engage., now your drive shaft is lined up but your shifter shaft isnt but its close, now if you get under the lower unit you can look up and see were the shift shaft will align with the motors shift shaft, you can see were the splines would line up, if your lucky you wont have to turn anything, but if you know Muphys law, youll have to. now what I did was I marked both the motor and lower shifter splines were they should be lined up, (one inside the other) now you can take a needle nose pair of pliers and just barely move the shaft on the lu so that it lines up with the one on the motor, now slowly tighten the wratchet strap a little at a time checking often to make sure the splines stay lined up. once you get them to engage the two units should come together with minimal effort. if at any time you experiance binding STOP! Try rocking the LU up and down a little but if it doesnt go, back up and start over.
Before bolting anything down test everything, if everything is working right, bolt it up.
One point here, "do not let grease get into the little nipple at the end of either shaft, I was told that this grease could cause shaft damage. Im not sure if its true or not but I didnt want to test it.
Anyways, hope this helps someone, some day....Nick

ps: the reason I say to put the units in neutral is because the shaft has more play in forward or reverse, which makes it alot harder to get the splines lined up correctly. Its a fine line between forward and reverse when in neutral so you may have to just barly move the shaft to get it to line up.
 

nbnewbie

Seaman
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
74
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

wow thanks for the feedback glad you figured it out these things can be so !!##@$$ frustrating
 

nbnewbie

Seaman
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
74
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

nickledimed - read your post i have used the strap method and it does help but you might consider this i have since made myself 2 long studs out of threaded rod one for the front and one for the rear of the lu the rear one can either be threaded into the trim tab then with a large washer and nut on top or a large washer and nut both above and below on the rear make them long enough to easily start the threads into the lu then by tightening one then the other you can easily bring the lu up into place while lining everything up (shift linkage, water pump guide tube) once in place remove the threaded rods and replace with proper front stud and rear bolt do be careful using this method you can exert enough pressure with this method to do damage if things are not lined up but for me it works flawlessly and lu "stabbing" is no longer as frustrating as it used to be as always just a suggestion
 

Nickledimed

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
87
Re: New impeller - NO forward or Reverse ??

Nice tip Red, Ill try that next time.
I agree that it may be risky with binding but it would seem to be less of a chance to bind using long bolts. Ill have to try that out.
 
Top