Stuck in Fwd

[Grant Brown]

1987-70hp 3 cyl.<br />I pulled the lower unit last week to replace the waterpump etc.<br />I put it all together and when I fired it up on the muffs today it was stuck in forward with the prop turning clockwise with no change at all in any shifter position.<br />The info I have says to put it into forward gear (clicks w clockwise rotation and resistance on counterclockwise) and install it with the throttle lever in forward position.<br />Try as I might I could not get it to engage the shifter shaft. I got the driveshaft spines to line up but the closest I could get to closed was maybe 3/8 of an inch from the top of the case to the leg.<br />I tried it tonight several times and even got my wife to help by moving the throttle handle back and forth a few times.<br />All I ended up with was clicking clockwise in fwd, n or rev. but I haven't fired it up yet.<br /><br />Any suggestions?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[tengals123]

Re: Stuck in Fwd

it's common problem. The same thing happened to me. Do a search on replacing water pump. your shifter is in neutral but the gearcase is in forward.<br /><br />cheers

 

[Grant Brown]

Re: Stuck in Fwd

Thanks tengals123, I;ll try that

 

[Grant Brown]

Re: Stuck in Fwd

Figured it out. The shift shaft in the gearcase has to be turned all the way counter-clockwise while in forward gear, then it's in the proper position to be installed (with the controls in forward). The shift shaft can be turned about 100 degrees or so while still being in the forward gear, it just won't align properly with the engine/controls.<br />I hope this helps somebody else out some day, so I'm going to keyword load this post.<br /><br />Grant<br /><br /><br />shift shaft alignment shift shaft alignment shift shaft alignment shift shaft alignment shift shaft alignment

 

[mcva3]

Re: Stuck in Fwd

Grant, thanks to your last post i finally figured out how to set my gearcase shaft and shifter for it not to be stuck in fwrd gear. Thanks for that last post of yours!!!<br />Mike