Re: wont shift reverse after water pump install
I just wrote this up, should explain what can go wrong. Good luck.
There are generally only three things that will go wrong with the shifting of an Alpha I after a impeller installation: The shift slide is disconnected, the intermediate shift shaft is “off a spline”, or the washer between the intermediate and lower shift shafts is missing. If you only dropped the gearhousing, it is one of the latter two.
The first thing to do is figure out what is wrong. Did you take the entire outdrive off or just drop the lower? Does the control move freely back and forth WOT forward to WOT reverse, or does it jam when you pull it back toward reverse? Is it stuck in gear? Which gear is it stuck in (if the prop locks when you rotate it counterclockwise it is in forward, locks clockwise it is in reverse)? The answers to those questions will tell what is wrong.
If you removed the entire outdrive and it is stuck in gear and the shifter moves freely back and forth maybe a little binding near wot then either you are missing the intermediate shift shaft washer (see below) or your shift slide at the end of the shift cable has come disconnected from the upper shift shaft lever. Take a look underneath the fore part of the outdrive (trim it up a little to see) to make sure the intermediate ss and the upper ss are firmly locked together. If they are the problem is probably the shift slide. This is what it looks like:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&h...dsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0,i:140&tx=107&ty=44 There are two little arms on the shift slide that capture a small wheel on the underside of the upper shift shaft lever. When you shift to forward the slide moves back rotating the lever clockwise. If the wheel is not between the arms, the aft arm will push the lever, but when you shift to reverse and the slide moves forward and since the wheel is not between the arms there is nothing to pull it back (rotate CCW) and you stay in forward. Fix: Place control in forward, hold the gearhousing by CCW pressure with a bungee on the prop, Slide the outdrive back and reposition the wheel between the shift slide arms, bolt back together.
If you did not remove the entire outdrive and the shifter moves freely back and forth and it does not shift, or stays in one gear it is likely that you lost (or it is bent) the 1” stainless steel washer that goes under the intermediate shift shaft and allowed the top of the I shift shaft to drop down out of the coupler on the bottom of the upper shift shaft. To check take a look. The top of the intermediate ss should be solidly locked into the bottom of the upper ss.
If you did not remove the entire outdrive and the control handle jams when you pull it back and it is stuck in reverse, then the gearhousing was in reverse when you put it back together rather than forward and the intermediate shift shaft went onto the lower shift shaft “off a spline”.
Fix: drop the lower, rotate the lower ss (small splined shaft in front) all the way clockwise (forward gear), make sure the washer is in place, rotate the prop CCW until it locks and hold tension with a bungee to keep it locked in forward. Make sure the control is in forward and the bottom of the upper shift shaft is pointed straight and the top of the i ss is pointed straight ahead. If you need to turn the verticle driveshaft a little to get the splines to line up, turn the prop CCW only. Make sure the little quad ring is in place in the oil passage. Bolt it back together.
