Re: Trouble with lower unit 75 horse Mariner
The book says otherwise, but big guns on here, and this little pee wee, like to set the shifter in the lower unit to F where prop ratchets in the free flow direction but offers resistance when turned in the direction that the prop turns to move the boat forward. Then set the shift lever on the Remote control to F. The reason for this is in the next paragraph and if you were using N, you couldn't do the alignment....would have to turn the crankshaft which is much more awkward than turning the prop in F gear.
Assemble your lower unit and when you get to the last inch, the splines of the shifter should match and with your hand on the prop, rotate it until the drive shaft splines line up and the LU fully mates to the mid section......be sure that your water tube is in the bottom of the powerhead.
Then, with the two sections fully meshed place the shift selector in N and ensure that the prop rotates freely in both directions and then while slowly rotating the prop and slowly moving the shifter into R, the gears mesh and the prop offers resistance to turning in BOTH directions. (Reverse gearing is composed of square gears that have to line up before the shift can occur....unlike F which aligns itself. If you force it you will damage your shift linkage.) Then button her up...
Mark
