shift shaft fell out!

[Tripp Halbert]

1995 merc 115hp here. Had leak in lower unit so pulled foot and did a pressure test. It was leaking at shift shaft seals so I replaced them and during this the shift shaft some how slid out. I know about the cam spring moving and whatnot so now I'm bottoming out down in the housing and the shaft just spins freely so I read some posts that I need to disassemble the whole prop shaft gears to reset the cam. But I have also read some people talking about realigning the cam by spinning the prop to the least resistant position. Is my lower unit capable of this or is this just possible on some different models. All I see down at the bottom moving is a pin - like mechanism moving forwards and backwards as I wiggle the prop. The dang shift shaft wont bite on anything! Please tell me there's a magical solution here guys. I don't have the tools to pull the gears!

 

[emckelvy]

When you're turning the prop and it "ratchets", right before you hear the big "click", stop and leave the prop in that position. What happens is the shift clutch is climbing up the ramps of the forward gear as you turn, then as you continue turning the clutch dogs fall off the end of the ramps. This is when you hear the click.

As the clutch is climbing the ramps, it is being forced rearward. This relieves some pressure off the clutch spring, which pushes against the shift cam and cam follower (the pin you see moving).

So, when you stop just before the "ratchet", the clutch is being pushed as far rearward as possible while still sitting on the forward gear ramps.

This puts less pressure on the pin and you may be able to get a long screwdriver or other suitable implement down the hole and move the pin back into position. And get the shift cam back to where you can insert the shift rod. Sometimes you have to elevate the front of the lower unit and rap on the housing to jostle the cam into moving back a bit.

If you're unable to do this, the lower unit has to come apart. The bearing carrier is held in by (2) bolts, once those bolts are removed, all you have to do is use a slide hammer on the propshaft and the "guts" come out, leaving the pinion gear & fwd gear in place. You don't need to pull these to reposition the shift cam, because the cam follower is in the forward end of the propshaft.

Hope that all isn't overly confusing, and helps you get it back together. G'luck!............ed

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Okay so when I see that pin move into the forward position (being bow), I need to move it forward more with a screwdriver or whatever tool that works to move it?

 

[emckelvy]

Okay so when I see that pin move into the forward position (being bow), I need to move it forward more with a screwdriver or whatever tool that works to move it?

The pin needs to go to the rear of the gearcase (towards the prop). The pin is pushing the shift cam out of the way, once you push the pin rearward it makes room for the shift cam to slide rearward and align with the shift shaft. You likely can't even see the shift cam 'cause it's been pushed forward. Once the spring pressure off the pin is relieved, you should be able to push it rearward.

I'm assuming you've drained the gear oil; you'll probably find that the residual sticky oil keeps the shift cam from sliding around freely. Just take some carb cleaner, WD, or other equivalent solvent and spray down into the cavity. That'll wash some of the gear oil away so the shift cam can slide back into position.

Usually takes some fiddling to get 'er dun but it's still easier than taking the L/U apart! HTH............ed

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Okay I will give this a try. Thank you for the advice

 

[Tripp Halbert]

im going to make a tool with a small right angle at the end to push the pin back. my question is about how far does the pin need to go back and will the tool have room/time to slide out until the shift-shaft is put in. in other words, do i have to simultaneously push the pin back while slipping the shift shaft down or will it stay out of the way so i have time to push the shiftshaft back in??

 

[racerone]

Might as well make a quick trip to a repair shop.

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Haha nothing will be quick about that trip, given the fact that the prop won't even come off due to salt corrosion

 

[emckelvy]

Push the pin rearwards as far as it'll go. It'll only go so far before it contacts the clutch spring again, but that should be far enough to let the shift cam "float" back into position. Once you push the pin rearward, it's gonna stay there (long as you've got the shift clutch dogs positioned on the ramps of the fwd gear).

You'll need to elevate the front of the gearcase slightly to get the shift cam to move rearward. You may also need to bounce it from side-to-side, depending on where the shift cam ended up. There's a machined cavity up there and the cam can only move to-and-fro; it can't move up or down to some other position. It's in there, you just have to find it!!!

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Awesome man thanks, here goes nothin!

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Dude I love this site so much, I've learned so much about outboards here because of people like yall! It worked, it was like playing a video game trying to slide that little hockey puck cam into view and wiggle the shift shaft in!!! So STOKED!! Not gunna lie, I felt like the man haha thanks again emckelvy, you definitely gave me some courage to try.

Ps. Racerone, I spent the money and put a new starter in lieu of my rebuilt one. Night and day difference. Just FYI.

Thanks guys and to whoever out there screws up, this is possible. Just slide that pin out of view, tilt the foot towards the prop and tap the front with a rubber mallet very lightly till you see the cam "hockey puck"! Good luck!!

 

[emckelvy]

Ah, the old rubber mallet trick, I had forgotten about that!! Works good, eh!

Glad to see you got 'er dun. You should be getting your promotion to P.O. 1st Class in no time!!!

Cheers...........ed

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Cool, how exactly do we climb ranks here anyways??

 

[emckelvy]

Cool, how exactly do we climb ranks here anyways??

Judged solely by the number of posts. Silly, ain't it!

 

[Tripp Halbert]

Haha yea you'd think it'd be a bit more complex.

 

[racerone]

Ranked by # of posts and not by----quality or correctness ----of the content.