Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

[Bucks45]

Long story short, I've been having some overheating problems and it's turned into a nightmare. I pulled the lower unit off (for the third time) to replace the water pump (for the second time). Don't ask, I'm an idiot! Anyway, by the third time pulling the lower unit off I was a little ticked. Forgot to put the drive in forward. I'm going to reinstall it again tomorrow. I've searched, but can't find out what to do now that I've already taken it off in neutral. By the way, it's an Alpha I. Any help is appreciated.

Also, thanks to Bomar who's already been a ton of help. I didn't have the heart to e-mail him with another dumb question!

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

Inspect your shift linkage to assure the parts don't appear to be bent. I have heard of others doing what you did and getting away with it. Just take a look to make sure.
You still need to put it in forward for the reinstall. The control is easy, just move it ahead full. The drive is put in forward by turning the shoe straight ahead while turning the prop backward until it stops. Then put a bungee on the prop to hold forward gear until everything is assembled.

Also a recommendation, take a look at the adults only sticky section for homemade outdrive stands. I copied one of them and made a stand this spring. It took me $20 worth of casters and hardware along with some scrap wood and now I can remove & reinstall my drive in a couple of minutes. What a back saver and time saver.

 

[Bucks45]

Re: Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

Inspect your shift linkage to assure the parts don't appear to be bent. I have heard of others doing what you did and getting away with it. Just take a look to make sure.
You still need to put it in forward for the reinstall. The control is easy, just move it ahead full. The drive is put in forward by turning the shoe straight ahead while turning the prop backward until it stops. Then put a bungee on the prop to hold forward gear until everything is assembled.

Thanks....it came off pretty easy. I actually didn't even notice that I forgot to put it in forward until I went to put the cover back on the boat, so hopefully nothings bent. Is the lower unit casing the "shoe"?

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

Sounds like you just pulled the lower (gearcase) off, correct?? If so you can do that in any gear (F-N-R), because the shift shaft just drops out of the upper shift shaft in the bellhousing. However it is critical that you put it back EXACTLY the same way. If you have not put it back on, do the following: Shift the boat into forward. Look at the front of the gearcase, you will see a small splined shaft. That is the lower shift shaft. Carefully turn that shaft all the way clockwise, that is forward. The shift shaft slides onto the splined shaft, when you put the lower back on make sure that the shift shaft is pointed straight ahead, so that it mates with the upper shift shaft. Yes there are 3 shift shafts, the lower in the gearcase, the shift shaft in the drive housing and the upper shift shaft in the bellhousing. Download Merc sterndrive manual 3B gearhousing and look at the last 2 pages. Good luck.

 

[Bucks45]

Re: Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

Thanks Stony!

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Putting lower unit back on - Alpha I

Yup, the Stones have it. I missed the meaning!