Question on Drive Shaft Housing Installation

[joe_nj]

I'm re-installing my drive shaft housing on my 1987 alpha one, pre-Gen2 drive. Somewhere I read that if the splines don't line up, I can turn the prop counter-clockwise which should turn the spline so that it meshes correctly. When I turn the prop counter-clockwise, the u-joint assembly does not move and the prop turns freely. I'm wondering if I might have accidentally changed something when I was moving the drive around while off the boat or something. The gearshift was in forward when I removed the drive.

Should the prop and drive shaft be engaged with each other?

Do I need to do something to engage them before I re-install the housing? If so, can someone tell me what? I hope it doesn't require disassembling the out-drive.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Don S]

Re: Question on Drive Shaft Housing Installation

Turn the ujoint shaft, it's much easier.

 

[joe_nj]

Re: Question on Drive Shaft Housing Installation

Thanks, Don. I did that once already and it worked but I'm just concerned that I'll get it all back together and it won't go into gear and then the prop won't be turning. Do I need to verify that the linkage is going to work correctly before I re-install it?

I actually had the spline in by turning the u-joint as you suggest but I made a newbie mistake of not having the trim cylinders tied up because the ropes got in the way so I had to pull it back off to get the trim cylinders positioned right. Painful lesson but it wasn't bolted down yet.

 

[Don S]

Re: Question on Drive Shaft Housing Installation

You put the drive shaft housing (upper) on the lower unit, then you put the drive on the boat.
Two different jobs.
When you put the upper onto the lower, all you have to do to verify the drive shifts forward and reverse is to turn the shift shaft. Pointed straight forward is forward gear and the shift shaft should not turn further CW than straight forward. Reverse would be CCW about 45?.

Then you turn the prop CCW while turning the shift shaft CW to install the drive on the bellhousing on the boat.