is it necessary to disconnect shift rods before removing lower unit?

[mallardtone-man]

I just finished putting and impeller and gasket kit into my 1999 115 mercury last night. there was a step in my manual that's sad to remove the jam nut on the shift coupler then turn the shift ride coupler until the upper and lower shift rods are separated prior to removing the gear case. I was not sure what the shift coupler and tried digging in the manual but couldn't find it. I also watched a youtube video where 4 the impeller on this motor and he didn't do this step. That I decided to move forward without doing it. then at the end of the procedure it says to adjust the shift linkage but does not explain this. I just want to know if these steps were necessary Or not. I have not tested the motor yet or even tried to put it into gear for fear of damaging the linkage if I did something wrong here.

A side note When i put the Gear case back in I had a fair amount of trouble getting the cap on the gear shift splines to line up. I was able to freely turn the part of the gear shift that runs toward the prop through the gear case about three quarters of a turn in each direction before it would stop. And I'm not 100% sure what position it was in once I finally got it lined up. I want to make sure that this will not affect anything in my gearbox.

 

[minuteman62-64]

I guess it depends on your motor. On mine (Mariner) I can't drop the LU with out either disconnecting the upper and lower shift shafts or ripping the lower shift shaft out of the LU (which is probably not a good outcome for my motor). Try (with motor not running) putting gear shift handle in neutral and see if prop spins freely by hand. Then, put in forward and turn the flywheel and see if prop spins in clockwise direction. If so, you may be good to go. If not, I'd suggest dropping and re-installing LU by manual directions.

 

[Bill kubiak]

No Title

Some Mercs have a shift rod with a splined shaft, some don't, on mine there is a plastic part that inserts up into the forward part of the bottom of the mid leg that centers the shift rod so the splines will almost perfectly line up, here is a picture of that part, my manual says to be sure the LU is in neutral and the shift handle is also in neutral