Water pump replacement gone south Alpha one Gen 2

[shackle101]

Thanks I'll try this tomorrow when I have more light, and ideas as to why the shift cables got out of wack? Maybe me pulling it off in neutral?

teaches me for not listening the the 1st part of the removal video I guess. Most the outboards I dealt with you removed the lower in N (could be mistaken it's been awhile lol) so I assumed it was the same.

in the second video 1"10 mark you have the control box in full fwd and the lower shoe must me in a straight line. make the shift cable adjustment for that first
Folow that video to install the drive. turn the shift shaft clockwise so its in a straight line , turning the prop CCW will lock the propeller. The propeller needs to be in this locked position so you can turn the prop backwards CCW in fwd gear to line up the inputshaft splines into the coupler. Once the drive is installed and the nuts tightened the prop will be solidly locked turning it CCW because your in fwd trying to turn the motor backwards. Turning the prop CW you will feel a heavy ratcheting fell in the prop.This is the gear dogs over rideing each other.

 

[Bt Doctur]

No, even outboards need to be in gear to INSTALL them. A I/O lower can be removed in any gear but must be in Fwd to install it. Its the only way to turn the driveshaft to line up with the engine splines or the upper unit splines
To remove a complete drive the shift must be in foward

 

[shackle101]

Can this be done without the upper/lower on the boat? He makes references to lock the prop while doing it. I feel like I've made it worse now lol.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I just did a donor boat Alpha1 Gen2 removal, disassembly, paint and install on a boat that had older Alpha1 drive. So had to install every last piece and set up the shifting linkages and settings from scratch. It goes fairly easy if you are either good at following the Merc manual, or just watch Chris's video and use his method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s_tgevX2aI

First - with outdrive off, confirm that outdrive goes into both forward and reverse gear easily when hand turning the shift shaft (you've done this a bunch already)

Now the outdrive has to be installed to complete the rest.

Pull the lower shift cable off the shift plate and push it all the way in. Have a helper turn the prop CCW to lock it into forward gear. Have them hold pressure on the propeller in CCW direction while you check how much play is in the cable - push all the way in on the cable end mark it, then gently pull out and measure the free play. Must be under 9/16th inch. Press the cable in again and set the barrel nut so the distance between its mount hole and the end hole is exactly 6 inches. Install on the shift plate.

Next, at the engine shift plate end, check that the throw on the shift cable coming from the helm is 3 inches +/- 1/8 inch, going from forward to reverse. If it is within spec, put your helm control into forward gear and adjust that cable back on the shift plate by adjusting it to fit exactly and then adjust the barrel nut four turns out and install on the shift plate (this puts the entire cable and linkage under tension when going into forward gear and takes out all the slop in the entire length of cables and linkages when going into forward) Install pins and shift assist and bolt everything up.

Last, with your helper assisting, check that moving the helm shifter into forward will lock the propeller CCW and that moving to neutral will free all contact with the gears at the prop, and then in reverse the prop locks CW direction. If you have a problem in reverse then we can adjust that at the shift linkage plate on the motor.

Rick

 

[shackle101]

Problem is I already took the shift cables off with the drive off. I also managed to lose one of the pins somewhere in the engine bay (hopefully I can find it). What should I do now? My luck has been terrible on this one

 

[Rick Stephens]

No problem

Set the shift lever in the bell housing to the right place - which is almost out all the way with the shoe underneath pointing straight forward. Put the outdrive in forward gear - I like to put a bungee on the prop to keep pressure on it CCW so it stays in forward. When I don't use a bungee I end up having to use a screw driver over and over again to put it BACK into forward to keep the shift shaft pointing correctly. Stick the drive on. That's it. Exactly how I did it with a fresh new install on my boat from component parts. Once the outdrive is on you can do all the cable and linkage adjustments.

 

[Bt Doctur]

I think what hes asking now is how to correct the shift linkage. use my video of the shift cable operation. the arm `s roller fits into the shift slide, pulled rearward untill the lower shoe is in a straight line.place the control box in full fwd and carefully attach the black sleeve onto the stud and then adjust the brass barrel to fit into its slot.
a cotter pin secures the barrel. So with everything connected, with the control box in fwd the lower shoe is in a straight line.
To install the drive move shift rod into a straight line turning the prop CCW untill it is locked. grease the inputshaft, guide into the gimbal bearing , and if the splines do not line up slowly turn the prop CCW about an inch untill the drive slides on. install 1 nut. check shifting operation. If good, install the rest of the nuts and rams.

 

[shackle101]

Yeah I got the process of putting the drive back in. I just was trying to change the shift linkage with it off. I found the pin I dropped (thanks Tahoe for making TONS of room in the engine bay) and I put the linkage back together and it's moving fine. I'll install the unit with it in forward, and than try setting the linkage with it on and fully installed.

 

[Bt Doctur]

the lower shoe MUST be in a straight line before you install the drive. adjust the brass barrel as necessary.
any final adjustments are made with the drive installed

 

[shackle101]

shift cable adjustment done the trick. Guess it pulled it out of wack somehow. Oddly enough mine is held together by all pins no bolts except on the adjustable up/down part which mine was all the way down. I guess I'll wait till the end of the season to attack the bellows replacement, which looks fun (sarcasm).

Thank you guys so much for the help!!!