putting it back together

[mr_sajones]

Help
I was lucky enoph to find a 2001 tohatsu 2 stroke 5hp for free on craigs list.
I have replaced the impeller and now I can't get the lower section (the trans and prop) to go all of the way back in. What is the trick?
It's back together.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: putting it back together

No trick...Just skill and experience.

 

[mr_sajones]

Re: putting it back together

wow man,
I don't know what came over me I thought that someone might actually offer something of value rather than a smart *** ,no, strike that. a dumb *** remark.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: putting it back together

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you expected me to say. It's a skill issue and there is no trick to it. It simply goes up into the leg and you either can do it or you cannot.

 

[DamianJP]

Re: putting it back together

Hey mr_sajones

You really need to get a service manual manual to do stuff 100% and it will pay for itself in a job or two.

Iv'e only done this work on my 1989 Mecury 150 XR4. So I'm only shooting things in the dark here.

1)Make sure you line up the water return tube.

2)Might have to rotate the flywheel by hand to line the splines (teeth on the driver shaft) up. Mabey need a friend to rotate flywheel while you mate the L/U up.

3)Mark sure the gear linkage is not hitting nothing.
Im not sure if you have to sync the gear shifter before you push the L/U back up there or if theres a service port near the L/U so you can adjust when the L/U is mated to the mid section.

If so make sure the drive shaft matches the gear selecter at the top of the motor.

Turn the prop, if the drive shaft doesnt spin the L/U is in neutral the selecter at the top should be in neutral aswell.

If you turn the prop and the drive shaft spins its in gear. Now I forgot which way is foward gear and which is reverse but I'll keep looking around.

Just try to do it in neutral.

Also if you have no one to help you spin flywheel you might need to do this method...FIRST

1)Find out which way the prop is supposed to spin when in foward

2)Set the L/U shifter to foward and set the top shifter (by motor) into foward aswell.

3)Now you can turn the prop by hand to line up the splines (teeth on drive shaft) without the flywheel turning (basiclly eliminating you needing any help from someone else)

AGAIN, this is all the stuff Iv'e learned from my Mercury so take this into consideration. A manual will fine tune this help. Just trying to give you a place to start. Posting some pictures would help too.

Let me know how it goes.

Hope this helps abit,
DamianJP

 

[bruce40]

Re: putting it back together

Check your library. The library in my town has a bunch of outboard shop manuals.

Tohatsu, Nissan and Merc(the little ones) are all pretty much the same. So if you find a Merc or Nissan manual for the 5hp, they should work too.

 

[pvanv]

Re: putting it back together

Or you can own your very own copy by getting it from any Tohatsu/Nissan dealer. The finesse required to reattach the LU is as described. Some have the knack, some don't, some develop it, some never do. That's one reason why OB mechanics charge $100 an hour.

 

[mr_sajones]

Re: putting it back together

Thank you much damianjp.
That is exactly the thing I needed. I didn't even think about the shifter position. I have the owners manual and a parts manual with all of the exploded views. I'm sure I can get it back together now.

Thanks again.
Scott

 

[DamianJP]

Re: putting it back together

Cool deal Scott

Glad to hear you got the manual/parts ready. Take it slow and don't rush. And next time your on the water , you'll have that extra "hell yeah I did it myself" feeling. Also nice find on craigs, you got me looking thru it more often now.

Let me know how it goes and if you run into trouble.


-DamianJP

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: putting it back together

Understanding that this is a 2 week old thread and by now you've either : a) figured it out b) brought it to the dealer c) smashed it to bits, I'll offer my experience. I just spent 4 hrs struggling with the same thing and JUST figured it out while waffling between options 2 and 3! Since it was not covered here, I'll post for history /future search.

First,
before attempting to reinstall the leg, put the prop back on (with nut loose). This will allow you to turn the prop to align the head and shaft gears from your end vs struggling to find help or stretch to turn the fly wheel.

Now for the trick, fist make sure your drive shaft makes it into right spot in the block. Sounds simple but it's not hard to miss the tube/ hole completely. I used a head lamp to look up there and assure the shaft slid into the right spot.
Now here is THE SECRET (that was not covered in my repair manual!). The shift rod on the lower unit must not only go through the linkage clamp but MUST POKE THROUGH THE SMALL HOLE ON TOP OF THE LEG to trip the leg's reverse lever. Since the lever covers the hole when the shaft isn't there, it's easy to oversee the need to hit that hole completly. If you do not get the end of that rod to protrude out the that hole, it bottoms out in the leg and stops your from seating it that last 1.5". Since it's bent to start with, you have to fanagle the rod a bit to get it's tip to line up under the drive shaft. But once you do, the leg slides right on and you cna feel the stress just melt away
Hope this helps someone along the way.